Plasma processes associated with a rapidly moving magnet in the ionosphere

Summary Form only given, as follows. Plasma measurements in the vicinity of a large, high-intensity magnet moving rapidly through the ionosphere provide a unique opportunity to study in detail many of the plasma processes (reconnection anomalous diffusion, wave-particle interactions, etc.) that occur naturally throughout the solar system and in other astrophysical contexts, and an opportunity to develop a basic understanding and test theoretical models in new parameter regimes. The large, collisionless, wall-less plasma environment (the ionosphere) makes the investigation of considerable general interest to plasma physics, since several fundamental plasma processes, not otherwise accessible to laboratory experimentation, might be observed and measured quantitatively. Illustrative transport and instability processes have been examined.<
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