SIMULTANEOUS OBSERVATION OF MULTIPLE NONLOCAL EIGENMODES OF AN INHOMOGENEITY-DRIVEN PLASMA INSTABILITY

Multiple eigenmodes of the inhomegeneous energy-density-driven instabi lity are observed simultaneously with large and comparable amplitude. This is in sharp contrast to the usual case in plasmas in which one ei genmode dominates or the laboratory device's geometry is responsible f or multiple local eigenmodes. Each feature in the experimentally obser ved spectrum is unambiguously identified with a specific eigenstate of the theoretical model.