Transitions to spatiotemporal chaos and turbulence of flute instabilities in a low-β magnetized plasma

The spatiotemporal transition scenario of flute instabilities from a regular to a turbulent state is experimentally investigated in the low-β plasma column of a thermionic discharge. The same transition scenario, i.e., the Ruelle-Takens route to turbulence, is found for both the Kelvin-Helmholtz and the Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities. It is demonstrated that the transition can be more or less smooth, according to the discharge mode. In both cases, a strong radial dependence is observed, which is linked to the velocity shear layer in the case of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability