Slowing of Magnetic Reconnection Concurrent with Weakening Plasma Inflows and Increasing Collisionality in Strongly Driven Laser-Plasma Experiments
Name
PhysRevLett.114.205004.pdf
Size
336.49 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
547ea642706ccdf0a73b8847a98f549b
Author(s)
Fox, W.
Stoeckl, C.
Li, Chikang
Zylstra, Alex Bennett
Seguin, Fredrick Hampton
Frenje, Johan A.
Rosenberg, Michael Jonathan
Petrasso, Richard D.
Date Issued
May 2015
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Rosenberg, M. J., C. K. Li, W. Fox, A. B. Zylstra, C. Stoeckl, F. H. Seguin, J. A. Frenje, and R. D. Petrasso. “Slowing of Magnetic Reconnection Concurrent with Weakening Plasma Inflows and Increasing Collisionality in Strongly Driven Laser-Plasma Experiments.” Physical Review Letters 114, no. 20 (May 2015). © 2015 American Physical Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
An evolution of magnetic reconnection behavior, from fast jets to the slowing of reconnection and the establishment of a stable current sheet, has been observed in strongly driven, β ≲ 20 laser-produced plasma experiments. This process has been inferred to occur alongside a slowing of plasma inflows carrying the oppositely directed magnetic fields as well as the evolution of plasma conditions from collisionless to collisional. High-resolution proton radiography has revealed unprecedented detail of the forced interaction of magnetic fields and super-Alfvénic electron jets (V[subscript jet] ~ 20V[subscript A]) ejected from the reconnection region, indicating that two-fluid or collisionless magnetic reconnection occurs early in time. The absence of jets and the persistence of strong, stable magnetic fields at late times indicates that the reconnection process slows down, while plasma flows stagnate and plasma conditions evolve to a cooler, denser, more collisional state. These results demonstrate that powerful initial plasma flows are not sufficient to force a complete reconnection of magnetic fields, even in the strongly driven regime.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Plasma Science and Fusion Center
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.205004
