Balmer-Line Anomalies in a Turbulent Plasma

Abstract

Resonance effects between orthogonal components of dynamic and quasistatic electric fields within a turbulent hydrogen plasma are shown to produce satellites on the ${\mathrm{H}}_{\beta }$ profile. The splitting on ${\mathrm{H}}_{\alpha }$, ${\mathrm{H}}_{\beta }$, ${\mathrm{H}}_{\gamma }$, and ${\mathrm{H}}_{\delta }$ profiles indicates that the quasistatic field strength is 0.9 × ${10}^7$ V/m. By using a helium tracer, comparison of a forbidden transition with its satellites indicates that the dynamic field (at the plasma frequency) is 1.3 × ${10}^7$ V/m.