AN INTRODUCTION TO PLASMA VORTICES,

An investigation is made of a property of plasmas which has far-reaching consequences for indoor plasmas as created in the laboratory and for outdoor astrophysical plasmas. The property is this If a plasma exists in the presence of a magnetic field, forces will arise due to small space andor time variations in the magnetic field andor velocity field which will lead to vortical motion of the plasma. A tendency to form vortices in reaction to external perturbation is a universal property of fluids. In addition to the hydrodynamic forces, the plasma is also subject to an electromagnetic force. The hydrodynamic forces are the centripetal force, proportional to the square of the velocity divided by the local radius of curvature of the streamline and the Magnus force, proportional to the product of the vorticity and the component of velocity perpendicular to it. The electromagnetic force known as the Lorentz force is proportional to the product of the current and the component of magnetic field strength perpendicular to it. The electromagnetic Lorentz force and the fluid dynamical Magnus force have opposite signs. It is precisely upon this sign difference that the richness of plasma vortex behavior rests. Author