Fast magnetization of a low to high beta plasma beam

Summary form only given. The magnetization of a high-β, hydrogen-plasma beam injected into a vacuum transverse magnetic field was investigated. Plasma beam characteristics were measured for a wide beam,
a
/ρ
_i
⩽35, and a downstream distance
x
⩽300 ρ
_i
, where
a
is the beam radius,
x
is the downstream distance, and ρ
_i
is the ion gyroradius. A brief initial state of diamagnetic propagation was observed followed by
E
×
B
(magnetized) propagation;
E
×
B
propagation is accompanied by beam compression transverse to
B
with as much as a factor of four increase in density and a slight drift of the beam in the direction of the ion Lorentz force. At high fields,
B
_z
=200-300 G, the observed, magnetic field diffusion time is much faster than that calculated from classical Spitzer conductivity and is more on the order of the diffusion time based on Hall conductivity