Electromagnetic instability of thin reconnection layers: Comparison of three-dimensional simulations with MRX observations

Journal Article · Sat Jun 15 04:00:00 EDT 2013 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4811371· OSTI ID:22228012

Roytershteyn, V.; Karimabadi, H. ^[1]; Dorfman, S.; Ji, H.; Yamada, M. ^[2]; Daughton, W. ^[3]

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1. SciberQuest, Inc., Del Mar, California 92014 (United States)
2. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543 (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

The influence of current-aligned instabilities on magnetic reconnection in weakly collisional regimes is investigated using experimental observations from Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) [M. Yamada et al., Phys. Plasmas 4, 1936 (1997)] and large-scale fully kinetic simulations. In the simulations as well as in the experiment, the dominant instability is localized near the center of the reconnection layer, produces large perturbations of the magnetic field, and is characterized by the wavenumber that is a geometric mean between electron and ion gyroradii k∼(ρ{sub e}ρ{sub i}){sup −1/2}. However, both the simulations and the experimental observations suggest the instability is not the dominant reconnection mechanism under parameters typical of MRX.

• OSTI ID: 22228012
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 20; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DISTURBANCES
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRONS
MAGNETIC CONFINEMENT
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA SIMULATION
PLASMA WAVES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS