Laboratory model of wave/current wings launched by rapidly moving conductors in magnetoplasmas

Summary form only given, as follows. The current system set up by charged conductors moving rapidly through a magnetized plasma across B/sub 0/ has been investigated. Classical theoretical models predict that the current collected/emitted by a moving electrode will flow along a winglike structure due to the combined motion of the electrode across B/sub 0/ and the current propagation along B/sub 0/ by Alfven waves. Since it is not possible to move the electrode at a speed comparable to a whistler wave, the electrode is moved in small increments across B/sub 0/, and current pulses of duration and time delays commensurate with a continuous electrode motion and DC current have been drawn. For each electrode position, the magnetic field perturbation is measured. Linear superposition of the individual wavelets yields the resultant field of the moving electrode. It is found that a current channel trailing at an angle theta with respect to the electrode motion is excited. The current wings broaden with distance from the electrode owing to the dispersion properties of whistlers. Extrapolating the laboratory observations to satellites in space, the current wings will be nearly field-aligned. Nonlinear effects observed in the laboratory will lead to nonstationary whistler wings.<>