Intermittent turbulence and
turbulent structures

I have been studying intermittent turbulence and turbulent structures in the Large Plasma Device (LAPD) at UCLA. The figure to the left shows two-dimensional cross-correlation images of the density and potential of turbulently generated structures in LAPD.

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Nonlinear interactions
between Alfvén waves

In the ideal, incompressible MHD model, interactions between counter-propagating Alfvén waves are responsible for the turbulent energy cascade. Motivated by this picture, we are studying interactions between Alfvén waves in UCLA's LAPD.

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Suppression of turbulent
transport by sheared flow

Theoretically, shear flow is predicted to cause radial decorrelation (rip apart eddies), reduce turbulent amplitude, and modify the cross-phase between fluctuating density and electric field. We have driven sheared flow in the edge of LAPD through biasing.

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Turbulence and transport driven
by temperature gradients

Heat transport in tokamaks is thought to be controlled by turbulence associated with radial gradients in electron and ion temperature. We are measuring electron temperature fluctuation on DIII-D using an electron cyclotron emission (ECE) radiometer.

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