arXiv subjects

Lavkesh Lachhvani

Publications and source records attributed to Lavkesh Lachhvani.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Nonlinear Energy Transfer Analysis between Coherent Modes in Developing Plasma Turbulence

Energy transfer among various spectral components of fluctuating physical parameters in plasma occurs due to the nonlinear interactions, but these effects are typically not captured by the traditional linear spectral methods. Plasma density fluctuations measured in the Inverse Mirror Plasma Experimental Device (IMPED) have signatures of nonlinear mode interactions among various instability modes, i.e. Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) and Drift-Wave (DW) modes. In this paper, the energy transfer among these modes as a result of nonlinear wave interactions (through the quadratic coupling processes) have been investigated in detail. The existing computational methods for single field model such as Ritz method and Kim method have been explored to understand the dynamics of nonlinear interaction between coherent modes. Both methods are applied and validated in simulation as well as experimental data from IMPED for coherent modes in plasma. We find that the validity and applicability of the methods depend on the statistical nature of the data, particularly higher-order moments such as kurtosis, and on spatial stationarity. Energy transfer analysis using these methods reveals primarily the transfer of energy from a RT mode and a mix mode of DW and RT to a comparatively low-frequency DW mode, demonstrating the capability of the method to quantify spectral energy transport between the coherent modes.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2026

Role of Magnetic Field in the Redistribution of Turbulence from Large-Scale Structures to Small-Scale Fluctuations

Magnetized plasmas with equilibrium density gradients support drift-wave turbulence, which is often regulated by self-generated zonal flows. In this work, we experimentally examine the effect of increasing the magnetic field on turbulence characteristics in a linear plasma device. As the magnetic field is increased from 600 to 1000 G, zonal flow is suppressed while the mean flow increases. Spectral analysis of density and potential fluctuations shows a redistribution of power from low-frequency (0.1-1 kHz) to high-frequency (1-300 kHz) components, along with an increase in the spectral slope and the ratio PHF/PLF. This change is linked to a reduction in Reynolds stress due to the loss of correlation between radial and poloidal velocity fluctuations, which possibly weakens the drive for zonal flow generation. Similar behavior is observed near the peak gradient region, also indicating its global nature. The present results suggest a transition from a zonal-flow-dominated regime to a state dominated by smaller-scale fluctuations, possibly influenced by mean flow shear. These findings highlight how the magnetic field redistributes spectral energy across frequency scales in drift-wave turbulent plasmas

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2026

Transition from Zonal Flows to Streamer like structures and associated edge Fluctuations

We report experimental observations of a controlled transition from a zonal-flow (ZF) dominated regime to a coexistence regime of ZFs and streamers, and finally to a streamer-dominated state in a linear magnetized plasma column. The controlling parameter is the ion-neutral collision frequency. At low collisionality (2 x 10^-5 mbar), the plasma turbulence is dominated by coherent ZFs (600-700 Hz) that are nonlinearly driven by drift-wave fluctuations. With increasing collisionality (5 x 10^-4 mbar), the ZF growth is reduced and streamers emerge through nonlinear coupling of neighboring drift modes mediated by a mediator mode. At high collisionality (2 x 10^-3 mbar), ZFs are strongly damped and the turbulence becomes streamer-dominated. For each of these turbulent states, the corresponding edge fluctuations transition from coherent, symmetric to intermittent, asymmetric fluctuations with enhanced low-frequency content and larger spatial scales that can result in convective transport. Our results demonstrate the possibility of selective excitation of ZFs and streamers by regulating their collisional damping and establish the ion-neutral collision frequency as an effective control knob for regulating turbulent structures and edge transport in magnetized plasmas.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2026

Experimental observation of drift acoustic cnoidal waves in a magnetized plasma

We report the experimental observation of highly nonlinear coherent structures in a linear magnettized plasma characterized by a strong background density gradient and significant ExB velocity shear under high ion-neutral collisionality. These structures, identified as drift acoustic waves, exhibit large normalized density fluctuations reaching amplitudes of up to ~10% and show periodic sawtooth-like waveforms. These observed waveforms are well described by cnoidal functions, corresponding to stationary nonlinear wave trains. Cnoidal waves are exact solutions of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV)-type equations, alongside the more commonly studied soliton solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this work presents the first controlled experimental observation of cnoidal wave trains in a highly collisional magnetized plasma through systematic variation of profile gradients. These findings provide important new insights into the nonlinear evolution and saturation of drift acoustic waves in inhomogeneous, sheared, and collisional magnetized plasmas.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2024

MHD activity induced coherent mode excitation in the edge plasma region of ADITYA-U Tokamak

In this paper, we report the excitation of coherent density and potential fluctuations induced by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) activity in the edge plasma region of ADITYA-U Tokamak. When the amplitude of the MHD mode, mainly the m/n = 2/1, increases beyond a threshold value of 0.3-0.4 %, coherent oscillations in the density and potential fluctuations are observed having the same frequency as that of the MHD mode. The mode numbers of these MHD induced density and potential fluctuations are obtained by Langmuir probes placed at different radial, poloidal, and toroidal locations in the edge plasma region. Detailed analyses of these Langmuir probe measurements reveal that the coherent mode in edge potential fluctuation has a mode structure of m/n = 2/1 whereas the edge density fluctuation has an m/n = 1/1 structure. It is further observed that beyond the threshold, the coupled power fraction scales almost linearly with the magnitude of magnetic fluctuations. Furthermore, the rise rates of the coupled power fraction for coherent modes in density and potential fluctuations are also found to be dependent on the growth rate of magnetic fluctuations. The disparate mode structures of the excited modes in density and plasma potential fluctuations suggest that the underlying mechanism for their existence is most likely due to the excitation of the global high-frequency branch of zonal flows occurring through the coupling of even harmonics of potential to the odd harmonics of pressure due to 1/R dependence of the toroidal magnetic field.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2020

Unprecedented confinement time of electron plasmas with a purely toroidal magnetic field in SMARTEX-C

Confinement time of electron plasmas trapped using a purely toroidal magnetic field has been extended to $\sim 100$ s in a small aspect ratio ($R_{o}/{a} \sim {1.59}$, $R_o$ and $a$ are device major and minor radius, respectively), partial torus. It surpasses the previous record by nearly two orders of magnitude. Lifetime is estimated from the frequency scaling of the linear diocotron mode launched from sections of the wall, that are also used for mode diagnostics. Confinement improves enormously with reduction in neutral pressure in the presence of a steady state magnetic field. In addition, confinement is seen to be independent of the magnetic field, a distinguishing feature of Magnetic Pumping Transport (MPT) theory. Since MPT predicts an upper limit to confinement comparisons have been made between our experiments and MPT estimates.

physics.plasm-ph↗