A turbulent-generated azimuthally symmetric radially sheared plasma fluid flow is observed in a cylindrical magnetized helicon plasma device with no external sources of momentum input. A turbulent momentum conservation analysis shows that this shear flow is sustained against dissipation by the turbulent Reynolds stress generated by collisional drift fluctuations in the device. In the wavenumber domain this process is manifested via a nonlinear transfer of energy from small scales to larger scales. Simulations of collisional drift turbulence in this device have also been carried out and clearly show the formation of a shear flow quantitatively similar to that observed experimentally. The results integrate experiment and first-principle simulations and validate the basic theoretical picture of drift-wave/shear flow interactions.
Evidence for Reynolds-stress driven shear flows using bispectral analysis: theory and experiment