Thermo-magneto coupling in a dipole plasma

TL;DR

This paper investigates how electron-cyclotron heating influences magnetic moment generation in a dipole plasma, proposing a thermodynamic model linking heating to microscopic magnetic moment injection and magnetic field interaction.

Contribution

It introduces a thermodynamic framework for understanding thermo-magneto coupling in dipole plasmas, connecting heating processes to magnetic moment dynamics.

Findings

Magnetic moment is generated in response to electron-cyclotron heating.

The model links heating to microscopic magnetic moment injection.

Magnetic field acts as a chemical potential in the thermodynamic description.

Abstract

On a dipole plasma, we observe the generation of magnetic moment, as the movement of the levitating magnet-plasma compound, in response to electron-cyclotron heating and the increase of $\beta$ (magnetically-confined thermal energy). We formulate a thermodynamic model with interpreting heating as injection of microscopic magnetic moment; the corresponding chemical potential is the ambient magnetic field.