APS Logo

Magnetic reconnection in laser-produced plasmas

ORAL

Abstract

Laser-produced plasmas are a new platform for magnetic reconnection experiments which allow generation of current sheets much larger than intrinsic plasma scales and with low resistivity. We present results from experiments at the National Ignition Facility and OMEGA, where magnetic fields are generated in two expanding plumes by the Biermann battery effect. Collision of the two plasma plumes drives reconnection in a highly-elongated current sheet. The reconnection current sheet and interaction is observed with multiple diagnostics, including proton radiography to detect magnetic field structures and gated x-ray imagers to infer plasma parameters and evolution. The magnetic field measurements show that the current sheet thins down to a half-width close to the electron gyro-scale, suggesting fast reconnection supported by the electron pressure tensor. A high-energy electron spectrometer shows the enhancement in a tail of energized particles (E = 50-100 keV, >> thermal energy of 1 keV) when two plumes collide vs. single expanding plasmas.

–

Publication: W. Fox, G. Fiksel, D. B. Schaeffer, D. Haberberger, et al, "A novel kinetic mechanism for the onset of fast magnetic reconnection and plasmoid instabilities in collisionless plasmas". https://arxiv.org/abs/2112.03316, submitted (2022), <br><br>W. Fox, D.B. Schaeffer, M.J. Rosenberg, G. Fiksel, et al, "Fast magnetic reconnection in highly-extended current sheets at the National Ignition Facility". https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.06351 submitted (2021). <br><br>G. Fiksel, W. Fox, M. Rosenberg, D. Schaeffer, J. Matteucci, A. Bhattacharjee. "Electron energization during merging of self-magnetized, high-beta, laser-produced plasmas", J. Plasma Phys 87(4) (2021).

Presenters

  • William R Fox

    Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

Authors

  • William R Fox

    Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory

  • Derek B Schaeffer

    Princeton University

  • Gennady Fiksel

    University of Michigan

  • Michael J Rosenberg

    University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Laboratory for Laser Energetics, U. of Rochester

  • Hye-Sook Park

    Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab, LLNL

  • Kirill Lezhnin

    Princeton University

  • Amitava Bhattacharjee

    Princeton University, Princeton University, PPPL, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University

  • Daniel H Kalantar

    Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab

  • Bruce A Remington

    Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab

  • Dmitri A Uzdensky

    University of Colorado, Boulder, Univ. Colorado

  • Fredrick H Seguin

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT

  • Chikang Li

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology