Experimental Plasma Density Profiles Determined Through Measurements of the Magnetosonic Wave Speed

@misc{kuchta2026experimental,
  title = {{Experimental Plasma Density Profiles Determined Through Measurements of the Magnetosonic Wave Speed}},
  author = {Cameron Kuchta and Jan Egedal and Abhishek Mhatre and Paul Gradney and Joseph Olson and Xinyu Yu and Cary B. Forest},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.11743},
  eprint = {2609.11743},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.11743},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Experimental Plasma Density Profiles Determined Through Measurements of the Magnetosonic Wave Speed
AU  - Cameron Kuchta
AU  - Jan Egedal
AU  - Abhishek Mhatre
AU  - Paul Gradney
AU  - Joseph Olson
AU  - Xinyu Yu
AU  - Cary B. Forest
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/10
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.11743
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.11743
AB  - Information on plasma density in laboratory plasmas is commonly acquired using either Langmuir probes or optical diagnostics. Here, we present an alternative approach, inferring the density profile from magnetic measurements of a plasma wave. In particular, during the process of creating a reconnecting current layer for magnetic reconnection experiments in the Big Red Ball, the reconnection drive first launches a large amplitude fast magnetosonic wave. The propagation of the wavefront is measured with high spatial and temporal resolutions by in situ magnetic diagnostics. Given a known uniform background magnetic field strength and the known dispersion relation of the wave, we here show how the characteristics of the wavefront can be applied to determine the initial plasma density profile.
ER  -