Observations on a Fully Ionized Barium Plasma

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Abstract
A series of spectroscopic measurements in a fully ionized barium plasma column is described and discussed. The plasma was generated in the Q‐1 device in a manner similar to that used to make alkali‐metal plasmas. The observations show that the density contours and the temperature profiles in the body of the plasma were strongly influenced by conditions at the end plates. The results also indicate that the losses at the ends of the column dominated over the losses in the body of the plasma. Evidence is presented for the existence of internal circulating currents along the confining magnetic field lines in the absence of externally applied potentials. A verification of the Thompson effect in a current‐carrying, fully ionized plasma is also presented.