Investigations of the temporal evolution and statistical characterization of filamentary structures at high magnetic field in the MDPX device*

The formation of filamentary structures has been the focus of much research in the MDPX (Magnetized Dusty Plasma Experiment) at Auburn University [1], as it is important not only for dusty plasma studies but also for understanding pattern formation in magnetized plasma. These filaments, in high enough magnetic fields (B > 1T), appear as well-defined bright columns aligned parallel to the magnetic field. This project focuses on the reformatting of a dust tracking algorithm into a diagnostic tool for image processing and filament tracking, allowing us to explore characteristics related to the temporal evolution of these structures. This project is still ongoing, but preliminary results include accurate frame by frame tracking of multiple filaments to reveal the statistical characterizations of their net displacement, total distance travelled, lifetimes, and population per frame. The detected pathways of these filamentary structures also suggest that they are affected by the surrounding background turbulent structures and other filaments. 

 

[1] S. Williams et. al., Physics of Plasmas (2022)