ORDER AND CHAOS IN THE MAGNETIC ELECTRON-DRIFT VORTEX MODE

Ordered structures as well as chaotic motion of the magnetic electron drift vortex (MEDV) mode in a unmagnetized nonuniform plasma are discu ssed. In the collisionless limit., the nonlinear MEDV waves can self-o rganize into dipolar vortices or vortex chains. The latter exist in th e regime where dipolar vortices are forbidden. When dissipation is inc luded, the governing equations for the MEDV mode can be cast into the form of the Lorenz equations, so that chaotic solutions can exist.