Plasma vortices and their relation to cross-field diffusion: A laboratory study

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Abstract
Low-frequency, flute-type electrostatic fluctuations propagating across a strong homogeneous magnetic field are studied experimentally. The fluctuations are generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The presence of relatively long-lived vortexlike structures in a background of wideband turbulent fluctuations is demonstrated by a conditional sampling technique. It is demonstrated that in spite of the large-scale convection patterns associated with these structures, they can in some cases contribute only modestly to the turbulent plasma flux across the magnetic-field lines.