  The Bandt-Pompe permutation entropy and the Jensen-Shannon statistical
complexity are used to analyze fluctuating time series of three different
plasmas: the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence in the plasma wind tunnel of
the Swarthmore Spheromak Experiment (SSX), drift-wave turbulence of ion
saturation current fluctuations in the edge of the Large Plasma Device (LAPD)
and fully-developed turbulent magnetic fluctuations of the solar wind taken
from the WIND spacecraft. The entropy and complexity values are presented as
coordinates on the CH plane for comparison among the different plasma
environments and other fluctuation models. The solar wind is found to have the
highest permutation entropy and lowest statistical complexity of the three data
sets analyzed. Both laboratory data sets have larger values of statistical
complexity, suggesting these systems have fewer degrees of freedom in their
fluctuations, with SSX magnetic fluctuations having slightly less complexity
than the LAPD edge fluctuations. The CH plane coordinates are compared to the
shape and distribution of a spectral decomposition of the waveforms. These
results suggest that fully developed turbulence (solar wind) occupies the
lower-right region of the CH plane, and that other plasma systems considered to
be turbulent have less permutation entropy and more statistical complexity.
This paper presents the first use of this statistical analysis tool on solar
wind plasma, as well as on an MHD turbulent experimental plasma.

Plasma Physics