Abstract
Laboratory experiments have examined particular elements of proposed mechanisms for ion conic formation seen in the Earth's auroral-zone magnetosphere. A laser-induced fluorescence diagnostic measured the ion distribution function at many angles in velocity space, allowing tomographic techniques to reconstruct the multidimensional ion distribution function. Ion conics, as well as drifting Maxwellians, were observed.
Highlights
Laboratory experiments have examined particular elements of proposed mechanisms for ion conic formation seen in the Earth's auroral-zone magnetosphere
Ion conies are observed in the Earth's auroral-zone magnetosphere through the use of ion-energy analyzers on satellites. ' These conical distributions in velocity space are seen in conjunction with double layers, electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves, and lower hybrid waves
One suggested mechanism of ion conic formation is perpendicular ion heating due to waves, followed by pVB forces folding the distribution into a conic
Summary
Laboratory experiments have examined particular elements of proposed mechanisms for ion conic formation seen in the Earth's auroral-zone magnetosphere. Ion conies are observed in the Earth's auroral-zone magnetosphere through the use of ion-energy analyzers on satellites. In this Letter we report observations of drifting undisturbed Maxwellian velocity distributions and the first laboratory observations of ion conic production in the presence of radio frequency waves. These measurements were made by a new technique of optical tomography in velocity space. The presence of an energy analyzer in a laboratory plasma may be a significant perturbation to the system With these difficulties in mind, experiments can still benefit substantially from analyzer data, both in space' and in the laboratory. Ions at velocity v; having an electronic transition frequency cop may undergo a transition and emit a photon upon relaxing to another state when the required
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