| NUKLEONIKA 2011, 56(2):175-177
POSSIBLE ACCURACY OF THE COTTON-MOUTON POLARIMETRY
IN A SHEARED TOROIDAL PLASMA
Yury A. Kravtsov1,2, Janusz Chrzanowski2
1 Institute of Physics, Maritime University of Szczecin,
1/2 Wały Chrobrego Str., 70-500 Szczecin, Poland
2 Space Research Institute RAS, 82/34 Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow 117997, Russia
The Cotton-Mouton effect in the sheared plasma with helical magnetic lines is studied, using the equation for the complex amplitude ratio (CAR). A simple model for helical magnetic lines in plasma of toroidal configuration is suggested. Equation for CAR is solved perturbatively, treating the shear angle variations as a small perturbation, caused by the spiral form of the magnetic lines. It is shown that the uncertainty of the polarization measurements in the toroidal plasma with a spiral form of the magnetic lines does not exceed 1.0–2.0%, which determines the limiting accuracy of the Cotton-Mouton polarimetry. It is furthermore pointed out that the method of a priori subtraction of the “sheared” term may significantly improve the accuracy of the Cotton-Mouton polarimetry.
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