Dynamical plasma response during driven magnetic reconnection

被引:32
作者
Egedal, J
Fasoli, A
Nazemi, J
机构
[1] MIT, Plasma Sci & Fus Ctr, Cambridge, MA 02139 USA
[2] Ecole Polytech Fed Lausanne, CRPP, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
关键词
D O I
10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.135003
中图分类号
O4 [物理学];
学科分类号
0702 ;
摘要
Direct measurements of a collisionless current channel during driven magnetic reconnection are obtained for the first time on the Versatile Toroidal Facility. The size of the diffusion region is found to scale with the electron drift orbit width, independent of the ion mass and plasma density. Based on experimental observations, analytic expressions governing the dynamical evolution of the current profile and the formation of the electrostatic potential that develops in response to the externally imposed reconnection drive are established. This time response is closely linked to the presence of ion polarization currents.
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页数:4
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