Plasma oscillations in an expanding magnetized ultracold neutral plasma

A recent publication demonstrated radial magnetic confinement in an ultracold neutral plasma [1]. In that work, the initially Gaussian transverse density distribution remained self-similarly Gaussian throughout the plasma confinement time, contrary to known models. We have dramatically improved our ability to measure transverse-expanion ion dynamics in magnetized strongly-coupled neutral plasmas. We show that the hydrodynamic velocity gradient shows oscillations that depend on magnetic field. We also discuss the ion temperature in the parallel and transverse directions.

[1] PRE 105, 045201 (2022)