Particle Energization via Tearing Instability with Global Self-Organization Constraints
- University of Wisconsin‐Madison
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
The presentation reviews how tearing magnetic reconnection leads to powerful ion energization in reversed field pinch (RFP) plasmas. A mature MHD model for tearing instability has been developed that captures key nonlinear dynamics from the global to intermediate spatial scales. A turbulent cascade is also present that extends to at least the ion gyroradius scale, within which important particle energization mechanisms are anticipated. In summary, Ion heating and acceleration associated with magnetic reconnection from tearing instability is a powerful process in the RFP laboratory plasma (gyro-resonant and stochastic processes are likely candidates to support the observed rapid heating and other features, reconnection-driven electron heating appears weaker or even absent, energetic tail formation for ions and electrons). Global self-organization strongly impacts particle energization (tearing interactions that span to core to edge, global magnetic flux change produces a larger electric field and runaway, correlations in electric and magnetic field fluctuations needed for dynamo feedback, impact of transport processes (which can be quite different for ions and electrons), inhomogeneity on the system scale, e.g., strong edge gradients).
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- University of Wisconsin‐Madison
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1196188
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-15-25573
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Plasma Energization: Exchanges between Fluid and Kinetic Scales ; 2015-05-04 - 2015-05-06 ; Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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