Confinement of Plasma along Shaped Open Magnetic Fields from the Centrifugal Force of Supersonic Plasma Rotation

Interferometric density measurements in plasmas rotating in shaped, open magnetic fields demonstrate strong confinement of plasma parallel to the magnetic field, with density drops of more than a factor of 10. Taken together with spectroscopic measurements of supersonic ExB rotation of sonic Mach 2, these measurements are in agreement with ideal MHD theory which predicts large parallel pressure drops balanced by centrifugal forces in supersonically rotating plasmas.