EXPERIMENTS ON NON-LINEAR EFFECTS OF STRONG ION-CYCLOTRON WAVE TURBULENCE

Laboratory experiments on strong ion cyclotron wave turbulence are reported, which show features similar to those occurring in the polar magnetosphere above auroral arcs. Measurements of ion heating, the ion velocity distribution function, and the saturated wave amplitude which is shown to agree with resonance-broadening theory are reported. The appearance of suprathermal electrons and a phenomenon that can be described as electron flux disruption are also reported. Radial hot ion transport is observed, and the possibility of filamentation of the instability is discussed.