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Experimental Evidence of Plasmoids in High-β Magnetic Reconnection

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Title Experimental Evidence of Plasmoids in High-β Magnetic Reconnection
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/PRM0IP
 
Creator J. A. Pearcy, M. J. Rosenberg, T. M. Johnson, G. D. Sutcliffe, B. L. Reichelt, J. D. Hare, N. F. Loureiro, R. D. Petrasso, C. K. Li
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous and fundamental process in plasmas by which magnetic fields change their topology and release magnetic energy. Despite decades of research, the physics governing the reconnection process in many parameter regimes remains controversial. Contemporary reconnection theories predict that long, narrow current sheets are susceptible to the tearing instability and split into isolated magnetic islands (or plasmoids), resulting in an enhanced reconnection rate. While several experimental observations of plasmoids in the regime of low-to-intermediate-beta (where beta is the ratio of plasma thermal pressure to magnetic pressure) have been made, there is a relative lack of experimental evidence for plasmoids in the high-beta reconnection environments which are typical in many space and astrophysical contexts. Here, we report strong experimental evidence for plasmoid formation in laser-driven high-beta reconnection experiments.
 
Subject Physics
HEDP
magnetic reconnection
plasmoids
proton radiography
reconstruction
 
Date 2024-01-25