Beta-dependent upper bound on ion temperature anisotropy in a laboratory plasma

Laser induced fluorescence measurements of ion temperatures, parallel and perpendicular to the local magnetic field, in the Large Experiment on Instabilities and Anisotropies space simulation chamber (a steady-state, high beta, argon plasma) display an inverse correlation between the upper bound on the ion temperature anisotropy and the parallel ion beta (β=8πnkT/B2). These observations are consistent with in situ spacecraft measurements in the Earth’s magnetosheath and with a theoretical/computational model that predicts that such an upper bound is imposed by scattering from enhanced fluctuations due to growth of the ion cyclotron anisotropy instability (the Alfven ion cyclotron instability).