On the hypothesis of gas rotation in the magnetomechanical effect

This study continues a cycle of works published in Optika i Spektroskopiya (Optics and Spectroscopy) on the magnetomechanical effect in a gas discharge. It is devoted to the hypothesis of the appearance of a torque acting on an object placed in a gas discharge in a magnetic field and arising due to the momentum transfer from the rotating neutral gas. The velocities of gas rotation required for the formation of the observed moment of forces are estimated. Measurements of the velocities performed using laser Doppler anemometry are analyzed. The method of observing dust structures in a magnetic field to reveal gas rotation is justified. Corresponding experiments with the use of the method of optical visualization for the observation of plasma-dust structures are conducted. The experimental dependence ω(r) obtained for a liquidlike structure is not consistent with the hypothesis of the transfer of rotation from the gas. Additional observations of dust plasma upon tilting of the discharge tube in the gravitational field are conducted. It is found that, in this case, the structure shifts from the central region of the stratum to the periphery and the rotation ceases. Neither the analysis nor the experiments performed in this study are consistent with the hypothesis of gas rotation in the magnetomechanical effect. The results of the experiments with dust structures are of independent interest for the physics of dust plasma.