Velocity space degrees of freedom of plasma fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper introduces the first measurements of a plasma velocity-space cross-correlation matrix, applying singular value decomposition to explore plasma kinetic fluctuation modes and defining a generalized wave admittance for these eigenmodes.

Contribution

It presents novel measurements of plasma velocity-space correlations and links eigenmodes to plasma kinetic fluctuations using advanced matrix analysis.

Findings

First measurement of plasma velocity-space cross-correlation matrix

Application of singular value decomposition to plasma data

Introduction of a generalized wave admittance for eigenmodes

Abstract

We present the first measurements of a plasma velocity-space cross-correlation matrix. A singular value decomposition is applied to this inherently Hermitian matrix, and the relation between the eigenmodes and the plasma kinetic fluctuation modes is explored. A generalized wave admittance is introduced for these eigenmodes.