Studies of turbulent gas flows using electric and magnetic probes

Abstract

The possibility that regions of shear in turbulent gas flows can align molecules and give rise to detectable electromagnetic radiation has been suggested by Clark (1958, 1975). This paper describes further research in this area and in particular considers the effect of acoustic interaction and vibration on the sensitive magnetic and electric probes used to detect the signals. The conclusion is that vibration effects are likely to dominate in most practical configurations in the laboratory. Calculations suggest an upper limit of approximately 1017 T for the molecular alignment effect, which is a factor of 106 below the background noise level when vibration effects are excluded. The probes can, however, be adapted for studies of flow-induced vibration.