Abstract
Magnetically confined pure electron columns evolve as nearly inviscid, incompressible two-dimensional (2-D) fluids. Experiments on these columns have found that the decay of 2-D turbulence leads to spontaneous formation of 'vortex crystals,' which are symmetric arrays of strong vortices within a background of lower vorticity. These vortex crystals can be described as maximum fluid entropy states for a system with an ergodically mixed background and a conserved number of strong vortices.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 18-25 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |
Volume | 848 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1998 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- General Neuroscience
- General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
- History and Philosophy of Science