plasma physics Plasma ()πλάσμα
, Henry George Liddell, R ...

, a lower hybrid oscillation is a

longitudinal Longitudinal is a geometric term of location which may refer to: * Longitude ** Line of longitude, also called a meridian * Longitudinal engine, an internal combustion engine in which the crankshaft is oriented along the long axis of the vehicl ...

oscillation of

ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...

s and

electron The electron ( or ) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary electric charge. Electrons belong to the first generation of the lepton particle family, and are generally thought to be elementary particles because they have no ...

s in a magnetized plasma. The direction of propagation must be very nearly perpendicular to the stationary magnetic field, within about

radian The radian, denoted by the symbol rad, is the unit of angle in the International System of Units (SI) and is the standard unit of angular measure used in many areas of mathematics. The unit was formerly an SI supplementary unit (before tha ...

s. Otherwise the electrons can move along the

field line A field line is a graphical visual aid for visualizing vector fields. It consists of an imaginary directed line which is tangent to the field vector at each point along its length. A diagram showing a representative set of neighboring field ...

s fast enough to shield the oscillations in potential. The frequency of oscillation is :

\omega = \Omega_i\Omega_e)^+\omega_^

, where Ω_i is the ion

cyclotron frequency Cyclotron resonance describes the interaction of external forces with charged particles experiencing a magnetic field, thus already moving on a circular path. It is named after the cyclotron, a cyclic particle accelerator that utilizes an oscillati ...

, Ω_e is the electron cyclotron frequency and ω_pi is the ion

plasma frequency Plasma oscillations, also known as Langmuir waves (after Irving Langmuir), are rapid oscillations of the electron density in conducting media such as plasmas or metals in the ultraviolet region. The oscillations can be described as an instability i ...

. This is the lower hybrid frequency, so called because it is a "hybrid", or mixture, of two frequencies. There are also an upper hybrid frequency and

upper hybrid oscillation In plasma physics, an upper hybrid oscillation is a mode of oscillation of a magnetized plasma. It consists of a longitudinal motion of the electrons perpendicular to the magnetic field with the dispersion relation : \omega^2 = \omega_^2 + \ome ...

. The lower hybrid oscillation is unusual in that the ion and electron masses play an equally important role. This mode is relatively unimportant in practice because the necessary precise orientation relative to the magnetic field is seldom achieved. Exceptions are the use of lower hybrid waves to heat and drive current in

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

plasmas, and the lower hybrid drift instability, which was thought to be an important determinant of transport in the

Field-Reversed Configuration A field-reversed configuration (FRC) is a type of plasma device studied as a means of producing nuclear fusion. It confines a plasma on closed magnetic field lines without a central penetration. In an FRC, the plasma has the form of a self-stabl ...

(but was not found experimentally).

References

{{Reflist Waves in plasmas

See also

References