Electrical dc Conductivity of a Turbulent Plasma

Abstract

The variation of the electrical dc conductivity of a turbulent plasma from a quiescent plasma is observed. The turbulent plasma is produced by applying an external rf voltage to the quiescent uniform plasma. When the external rf frequency is near the electron plasma frequency f_pe, the decrease of the electrical dc conductivity is observed (30% maximum). The decrease is proportional to the square of the external rf voltage and the saturation occurs beyond a certain level of the rf voltage. The decrease of the electrical dc conductivity depends largely on the direction of the externally applied rf field with reference to that of the dc current.