CAREER: The Bryn Mawr Plasma Laboratory---A liberal-Arts Centered Facility for Basic Plasma Research and Plasma Science Education

该职业奖支持建立Bryn Mawr等离子体实验室，该实验室的双重目标是扩大对湍流等离子体(一种带电粒子的气体)物理学的小规模实验研究，并作为增加进入该领域的女性等离子体物理学家数量的门户。该实验室建在布林莫尔学院，这是美国仅存的几所女子文科学院之一。它的中心是一个等离子体风洞实验，在这个实验中，产生湍流的等离子体并沿着圆柱体发射。对这种等离子体的测量将被用来更好地了解等离子体湍流的特征，并将其与传统的流体和空气湍流进行比较。该项目还将有助于我们了解在太空中观测到的等离子体，例如太阳向太阳系发射的太阳风，并将有助于改进对地球上空间天气的预测。同轴等离子体枪将被用来产生磁化的等离子体结构流，这种结构被称为球体，然后通过湍流涨落演变为弛豫进入泰勒状态。燃烧室沿线接入端口的高空间分辨率将允许对起伏的场、流动、等离子体密度和温度进行多次同时直接测量。实验目标包括评估和研究产生的湍流，以及建立这种流动的湍流等离子体作为研究其他现象的环境-很像传统风洞中的流动空气被用来研究空气动力学。计划包括在磁偶极子或绝缘障碍物存在的情况下观察湍流的变化，以及由于注入高能粒子或波而进行的修改。在可控的实验室环境中，该计划寻求更好地了解整个太阳系观察到的等离子体的状态--磁化、湍流和完全三维的。该系统将与主要航天器上的数据进行比较，包括在地球磁层内轨道上的磁层多尺度任务，以及帕克太阳探测器，检查太阳风本身的起源的等离子体。这一奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This CAREER award supports establishment of the Bryn Mawr Plasma Laboratory that has the dual goal of expanding small scale experimental research into the physics of a turbulent plasma, a gas of electrically charged particles, and serving as a gateway for increasing the number of women plasma physicists entering the field. The laboratory has been constructed at Bryn Mawr College, one of the few remaining women's liberal-arts colleges in the nation. It centers around a plasma wind-tunnel experiment in which turbulent plasma is generated and launched down a cylindrical column. Measurements of this plasma will be used to better understand the characteristics of plasma turbulence and to compare it to conventional fluid and air turbulence. The project will also benefit our understanding of plasmas observed in space, such as the solar wind launched by the sun into the solar system, and will help improve prediction of space weather here on Earth. A coaxial plasma gun will be used to generate a stream of magnetized plasma structures called spheromaks down a vacuum chamber, which then evolve via turbulent fluctuations toward relaxation into a Taylor state. High spatial resolution of access ports along the chamber will allow for many simultaneous direct measurements of fluctuating fields, flows, plasma density and temperature. Experimental goals include evaluation and study of the turbulence that is generated as well as establishing this flowing turbulent plasma as an environment in which to study other phenomena - much like the flowing air in a conventional wind-tunnel is used to study aerodynamics. Plans include observations of changes in turbulence in the presence of magnetic dipoles or insulating obstacles, as well as modifications due to injection of energetic particles or waves. Within a controllable laboratory setting, the program seeks to better understand the state of plasma that is observed throughout the solar system - magnetized, turbulent, and fully three-dimensional. Comparisons of this system will be made to data from major spacecraft-based endeavors including the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission in orbit within Earth's magnetosphere, and the Parker Solar Probe, examining the plasma at the origin of the solar wind itself.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.