Electron Diamagnetic Effect on Axial Force in an Expanding Plasma: Experiments and Theory

The axial force imparted from a magnetically expanding current-free plasma is directly measured for three different experimental configurations and compared with a two-dimensional fluid theory. The force component solely resulting from the expanding field is directly measured and identified as an axial force produced by the azimuthal current due to an electron diamagnetic drift and the radial component of the magnetic field. The experimentally measured forces are well described by the theory.