  The wealth of high quality data now available on the M87 jet inspired us to
carry out a detailed analysis of the plasma physical conditions in the jet. In
a companion paper (Lobanov, Hardee & Eilek, this proceedings) we identify a
double-helix structure within the jet, and apply Kelvin-Helmholtz stability
analysis to determine the physical state of the jet plasma. In this paper we
treat the jet as a test case for in situ particle acceleration. We find that
plasma turbulence is likely to exist at levels which can maintain the energy of
electrons radiating in the radio to optical range, consistent with the
broadband spectrum of the jet.
