Morphology and dynamics of three interacting kink-unstable flux ropes in a laboratory magnetoplasma
- Department of Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1000 Veteran Avenue, Suite 15-70, California 90095 (United States)
Flux ropes are ubiquitous in space and solar plasmas. Multiple adjacent flux ropes are commonly observed both in the solar corona and in the earth's magnetotail. The interaction of adjacent flux ropes is often dynamic and can lead to magnetic reconnection. In this paper, the interaction of three flux ropes is studied in a low {beta} background laboratory magnetoplasma. The magnetic structure of the flux rope is produced by the poloidal field of a field-aligned finite sized current which adds to the guide magnetic field and creates the typical helical field line structure. Each rope produces magnetic fields on the order of a few percent of the guide field. Volumetric magnetic field data were acquired and the magnetic field structure and dynamics of the flux ropes can thus be reconstructed. The flux ropes are found to propagate at the Alfven speed. Merging and bouncing of the flux ropes have been observed. The ropes twist and writhe as they propagate through the plasma. They are line tied and clearly separate at the cathode end but further away they merge into one extended rope. The steady state of the flux ropes is characterized by a rotation of the three flux ropes as a whole. At the same time, the flux ropes are twisting around each other. Time resolved density and temperature measurements from Langmuir probe data exhibit the same dynamics as the magnetic field data.
- OSTI ID:
- 22068794
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 19, Issue 10; Other Information: (c) 2012 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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