Kink-driven Magnetic Reconnection as the Driver of a Laboratory Plasma Eruption

Seo, Byonghoon; Avila, Mario; Kayshap, Pradeep; Yoo, Jongsoo; Clevenger, Trevor; Ma, Xuanye; Barjatya, Aroh; Kim, Daewoong

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ae119f

Kink-driven Magnetic Reconnection as the Driver of a Laboratory Plasma Eruption

Journal Article · Thu Nov 13 00:00:00 EST 2025 · The Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae119f· OSTI ID:3004740

^[1]; ^[1]; ^[2]; ^[3]; Clevenger, Trevor ^[1]; ^[1]; Barjatya, Aroh ^[1]; ^[4]

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, FL (United States)
VIT Bhopal University, Kothrikalan, Sehore, Madhya Pradesh (India)
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Korea Inst. of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

We report that kink-driven magnetic reconnection serves as an eruption mechanism for a laboratory jet. A flux rope is formed and becomes a filamentary jet. The jet becomes unstable due to kink instability when the Kruskal–Shafranov instability criterion is met, leading to an inflow of reconnecting fields. As a result of kink-driven magnetic reconnection, ions are substantially energized, resulting in enhanced acceleration of the jet. Based on the evidence observed from this laboratory experiment, we propose that kink-driven magnetic reconnection might act as a key driver for laboratory jet eruptions and might be relevant to solar jets associated with kink instability and magnetic reconnection.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials (KIMM); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0022952

OSTI ID:: 3004740

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 994; ISSN 0004-637X; ISSN 1538-4357

Publisher:: IOP PublishingCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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