Self-organization of electrostatic turbulence in a cylindrical plasma

On the basis of theory and computer simulations we show that electrostatic turbulence in a cylindrical plasma with magnetic shear and curvature self-organizes to form a macroscopic potential φ which depends only on the radial coordinate r and is given by φ(r)≃${\mathrm{J}}_0$(pr)+${\mathrm{C}}_1$${\mathrm{r}}^2$+${\mathrm{C}}_2$ where ${\mathrm{C}}_1$ and ${\mathrm{C}}_2$ are functions of a constant p. A unique feature of the potential is the existence of a coaxial φ(${\mathrm{r}}_0$)=0 surface at ${\mathrm{r}}_0$≃0.7a, where a is the radius of the cylinder. This surface is found to be fairly rigid and is considered to inhibit radial particle transport.