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Experimental onset threshold and magnetic pressure pile-up for 3D reconnection

Nature Physics volume 5, pages 521–526 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection changes the topology of magnetic field lines to a lower-energy state. This process can liberate stored magnetic field energy and accelerate particles during unsteady, explosive events. This is one of the most important processes in astrophysical, space and laboratory plasmas. The abrupt onset and cessation has been a long-standing puzzle. We show the first three-dimensional (3D) laboratory example of the onset and stagnation of magnetic reconnection between magnetized and parallel current channels (flux ropes) driven by magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) attraction and a 3D plasma-current-driven instability. Antiparallel magnetic field lines carried by these colliding flux ropes annihilate and drive an electric field. The inflow soon exceeds a threshold for the formation of a reconnection current layer. Magnetic flux and pressure pile up just outside this layer, and eventually become large enough to support MHD back-reaction forces that stall the inflow and stagnate the reconnection process.

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Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the RSX experiment.
Figure 2: Current density Jz(x,y) derived from magnetic data for Bz0=100 gauss in the x–y cutplane at z=48 cm.
Figure 3: Magnetic field evaluated on a line s that crosses the interaction region between the two colliding flux ropes.
Figure 4: Reconnection onset threshold and rate.
Figure 5: J×B forces stagnate reconnection process.
Figure 6: Computer FLIP3D simulations using a visco-resistive MHD model and realistic boundary conditions of the two RSX flux ropes that mutually attract.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Los Alamos Laboratory Directed Research and Development program under LANS Contract No. DE-AC52-06NA25396, and the Physics Frontier Center for Magnetic Self Organization in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas, jointly funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. We appreciate insightful comments from S. C. Hsu.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Los Alamos National Laboratory, P-24 Plasma Physics, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA

    T. P. Intrator, X. Sun & L. Dorf

  2. Centre for Plasma Astrophysics, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, BE-3001, Belgium

    G. Lapenta

  3. CRPP-EPFL, Bâtiment PPB, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

    I. Furno

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Contributions

T.P.I. realized that our data showed 3D-instability-driven reconnection onset and stagnation and wrote this article, X.S. acquired most of the data and did substantial data analyses, G.L. carried out computational simulations of the RSX experiment, I.F. and L.D built much of the RSX experiment and discussed the results with T.P.I. and X.S. and solidified the arguments and presentation.

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Correspondence to T. P. Intrator.

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Intrator, T., Sun, X., Lapenta, G. et al. Experimental onset threshold and magnetic pressure pile-up for 3D reconnection. Nature Phys 5, 521–526 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1300

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