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Matching experimental reconnection to multidimensional kinetic simulations

ORAL

Abstract



The normalized rate of reconnection is a measure of the upstream plasma inflow velocity compared to the local Alfven velocity. For large systems this rate is typically on the order of 0.1 but can become larger as system size decreases. Numerical and experimental results for Terrestrial Reconnection EXperiment (TREX) are applied in tandem to elucidate the qualities of reconnection in a low-density environment.  Prior TREX experimental results document how the rate of reconnection varies relative to the size of the system [1]. Here we present new simulation results demonstrating agreement with the experimental rate scaling.  Further new analyses exhibiting the matching between TREX simulations and the TREX experiment will also be shown.

[1] Olson et al., JPP (2021) 87, 3, 175870301.

Presenters

  • Samuel Greess

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

Authors

  • Samuel Greess

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Jan Egedal

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Adam J Stanier

    Los Alamos Natl Lab, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • William S Daughton

    Los Alamos Natl Lab, Los Alamos National Laboratory

  • Joseph R Olson

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Ari Le

    Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos Natl Lab

  • Alexander Millet-Ayala

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Mike Clark

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • John P Wallace

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Douglass A Endrizzi

    University of Wisconsin - Madison

  • Cary B Forest

    University of Wisconsin - Madison