Experimental Investigation of the Stability of a Single and Multiple Magnetic Flux Ropes

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

7831 Laboratory Studies, 7835 Magnetic Reconnection, 7871 Waves And Instabilities

Scientific paper

Both the stability of a single magnetic flux rope and the interaction between multiple magnetic flux ropes are fundamental issues in the dynamics of the solar corona. Examples are in coronal mass ejections, in which highly twisted flux ropes are believed to play a crucial role, and in solar flares and large-scale eruptions in which transport of twist through magnetic reconnection is observed between distinct coronal flux systems. To study the interaction of magnetic flux ropes in a controlled laboratory environment, we use the Reconnection Scaling eXperiment (RSX) device at Los Alamos National Laboratory, which was originally designed to study three-dimensional magnetic reconnection during the coalescence of parallel current channels. Commercial plasma guns are used to inject magnetic helicity into hydrogen plasma column (r = 2 cm radius, L = 0.2-3 m length). Multiple flux ropes carrying currents up to 1 kA are created along the axial direction of a 4 m linear vacuum vessel. A set of 12 identical external coils surrounding the vessel provides an axial magnetic field parallel to the current channels. The azimuthal (Bθ = 0-100 Gauss) and axial (Bz = 0-1000 Gauss) magnetic field components as well as the plasma density (1012}-10{14 cm-3) can be varied independently. In particular, the twist of magnetic field lines, defined by Φ = LBθ / rBz, can be scaled in the range 1 < Φ < 10 independently of the plasma collisionality. In the present work, the stability of single flux rope and the interaction of two flux ropes are studied in the RSX operational space. Magnetic data and visible light emission from a fast CCD camera are presented showing twisting and braiding of magnetic flux ropes.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Experimental Investigation of the Stability of a Single and Multiple Magnetic Flux Ropes does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Experimental Investigation of the Stability of a Single and Multiple Magnetic Flux Ropes, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Experimental Investigation of the Stability of a Single and Multiple Magnetic Flux Ropes will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1646956

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.