DOI: 10.1140/epjst/e2008-00841-5
Evidence of low-dimensional chaos in magnetized plasma turbulence
T. Živković and K. RypdalDepartment of Physics and Technology, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
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Abstract
We analyze probe data obtained from a toroidal magnetized plasma configuration suitable for studies of low-frequency gradient-driven instabilities. These instabilities give rise to field-aligned convection rolls analogous to Rayleigh-Benard cells in neutral fluids, and may theoretically develop similar routes to chaos.
When using mean-field dimension analysis, we observe low dimensionality, but this could originate from either low-dimensional chaos, periodicity or quasi-periodicity. Therefore, we apply recurrence plot analysis as well as estimation of the largest Lyapunov exponent. These analyses provide evidence of low-dimensional chaos, in agreement with theoretical predictions. Our results can be applied to other magnetized plasma configurations, where gradient-driven instabilities dominate the
dynamics of the system.
© EDP Sciences, Springer-Verlag 2008
