Physics
Scientific paper
May 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm..sm42b07f&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #SM42B-07
Physics
0654 Plasmas
Scientific paper
A high level of naturally occurring magnetic turbulence in the plasma of the MST reversed field pinch opens possibilities in studying the dynamics of reconnection in laboratory conditions. The plasma is in a toroidal configuration and is characterized by a high guiding magnetic field (0.5 T), high magnetic shear, high temperature (0.5 keV) and a corresponding Lundquist number of 106. The fluctuations are identified as non-linear resistive tearing modes. The amplitude of the fluctuation is high enough so the separate magnetic islands overlap. In addition, this tearing activity exhibits sawtooth-like bursts when the fluctuation amplitude increases several-fold. Local, time resolved measurements of majority and minority plasma ion temperature reveal a large increase in the ion temperature during those discrete reconnection events; the ion temperature more than doubles. The change in the ion thermal energy is comparable to the magnetic energy released during the reconnection. The ions are heated throughout the entire plasma volume and the ion distribution function remains Maxwellian during the reconnection event with Tperp=Tparallel. The fluctuations in magnetic field and plasma current (the current sheet) associated with reconnection have been measured by probes in the plasma edge. The reconnection current layer is broad in the radial (cross-field) direction with the width larger than resistive MHD and electron skin depth. The layer width is comparable to a magnetic island width and also comparable to the ion skin depth.
Craig David
Crocker Neal A.
den Hartog D. J.
Fiksel Gennady
Prager Stewart C.
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