Studies of the hot-electron population in an electron beam stabilized mirror-confined plasma

X-ray and diamagnetic loop measurements following electron beam injection into a hot ion plasma trapped in a minimum-B mirror system are reported. The hot electrons, believed to be responsible for the novel stabilization of the plasma by electron beam injection, are found to have a temperature kTapprox.2--3 keV, and a density of about 1% of the plasma's at the midplane. Axially, the hot electrons are more widely distributed than the trapped ions