Skip to main content
Earth, Planets and Space
Download PDF

Volume 53 Supplement 6

Special Issue: Magnetic Reconnection in Space and Laboratory Plasmas

  • Article
  • Published:

Study of local reconnection physics in a laboratory plasma

Earth, Planets and Space volume 53, pages 539–545 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

A short review of physics results obtained in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) is given with an emphasis on the local features of magnetic reconnection in a controlled environment. Stable two-dimensional (2D) current sheets are formed and sustained by induction using two internal coils. The observed reconnection rates are found to be quantitatively consistent with a generalized Sweet-Parker model which incorporates compressibility, unbalanced upstream-downstream pressure, and the effective resistivity. The latter is significantly enhanced over its classical values in the low collisionality regime. Strong local ion heating is measured by an optical probe during the reconnection process, and at least half of the increased ion energy must be due to nonclassical processes, consistent with the resistivity enhancement. Characteristics of high frequency electrostatic and electromagnetic fluctuations detected in the current sheet suggest presence of the lower-hybrid-drift like waves with significant magnetic components. The detailed structures of current sheet are measured and compared with Harris theory and two-fluid theory.

References

  • Biskamp, D., Magnetic reconnection via current sheets, Phys. Fluids, 29, 1520–1531, 1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biskamp, D., Magnetic reconnection, Physics Reports, 237, 179–247, 1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braginskii, S. I., Transport processes in a plasma, in Reviews of Plasma Physics Vol. 1, edited by M. A. Leontovich, 205 pp., Consultants Bureau, New York, 1965.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, T., et al., Measurements of lower-hybrid-drift turbulence in a reconnecting current sheet, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc., 45, 270, 2000; to be submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dungey, J. W., Interplanetary magnetic field and auroral zones, Phys. Rev. Lett., 6, 47–48, 1961.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ejiri, A. and K. Miyamoto, Ion-heating model during magnetic reconnection in reversed-field pinch plasmas, Plasma Phys. Controll. Fusion, 37, 43–56, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiksel, G., D. J. Den Hartog, and P. W. Fontana, An optical probe for local measurements of fast plasma ion dynamics, Rev. Sci. Instr., 69, 2024–2026, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris, E. G., On a plasma sheath separating regions of oppositely directed magnetic field, Il Nuovo Cimento, 23, 115–121, 1962.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, S. C., et al., Local measurement of nonclassical ion heating during magnetic reconnection, Phys. Rev. Lett., 84, 3859–3862, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hsu, S. C., et al., Experimental study of ion heating and acceleration during magnetic reconnection, Phys. Plasmas, 8, 1916–1928, 2001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huba, J., et al., Lower-hybrid-drift instability as a source of anomalous resistivity for magnetic-field line reconnection, Geophys. Res. Lett., 4, 125, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ji, H., et al., Probe measurements in the REPUTE-1 reversed field pinch, Rev. Sci. Instrum., 62, 2326–2337, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji, H., et al., Experimental test of the Sweet-Parker model of magnetic reconnection, Phys. Rev. Lett., 80, 3256–3259, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji, H., et al., Magnetic reconnection with Sweet-Parker characteristics in two-dimensional laboratory plasmas, Phys. Plasmas, 6, 1743–1750, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji, H., et al., Study of electric and magnetic profiles of current sheet in magnetic reconnection experiment, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc., 45, 270, 2000 (to be submitted).

  • Kornack, T. W., P. K. Sollins, and M. R. Brown, Experimental observation of correlated magnetic reconnection and Alfvenic ion jets, Phys. Rev. E, 58, R36–R39, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahajan, S. M. and R. D. Hazeltine, Sheared-flow generalization of the Harris sheet, Phys. Plasmas, 7, 1287–1293, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ono, Y., et al., Ion acceleration and direct ion heating in three-component magnetic reconnection, Phys. Rev. Lett., 76, 3328–3331, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, E. N., Sweet’s mechanism for merging magnetic fields in conducting fluids, J. Geophys. Res., 62, 509–520, 1957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petschek, H. E., Magnetic field annhilation, NASA Spec. Pub. SP-50, 425–439, 1964.

  • Priest, E. R., et al., Nature of the heating mechanism for the diffuse solar corona, Nature, 393, 545–547, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spitzer, L., Jr., Physics of Fully Ionized Gases, 2nd Revised edition, p. 28, Interscience Publishers, New York, 1962.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stenzel, R. L. and W. Gekelman, Magnetic-field line reconnection experiments 1. Field topologies, J. Geophys. Res., 86, 649–658, 1981.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stenzel, R. L., W. Gekelman, and N. Wild, Magnetic-field line reconnection experiments 4. Resistivity, Heating, and Energy-flow, J. Geophys. Res., 87, 111–117, 1982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweet, P. A., The neutral point theory of solar flares, in Electromagnetic Phenomena in Cosmical Physics, edited by B. Lehnert, pp. 123–134, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trintchouk, F., et al., Two-dimensional structure measurement in the magnetic reconnection experiment with planar laser-induced fluorescence, Bull. Am. Phys. Soc., 45, 270–271, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasyliunas, V. M., Theoretical models of magnetic field line merging, 1, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 13, 303–336, 1975.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada, M., Review of controlled laboratory experiments on physics of magnetic reconnection, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 14529–14541, 1999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada, M., et al., Magnetic reconnection of plasma toroids with cohelicity and counterhelicity, Phys. Rev. Lett., 65, 721–724, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada, M., et al., Identification of Y-shaped and O-shaped diffusion regions during magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma, Phys. Rev. Lett., 78, 3117–3120, 1997a.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada, M., et al., Study of driven magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma, Phys. Plasmas, 4, 1936–1944, 1997b.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamada, M., et al., Experimental investigation of the neutral sheet profile during magnetic reconnection, Phys. Plasmas, 5, 1781–1787, 2000.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, New Jersey, 08543, USA

    Hantao Ji, Troy Carter, Scott Hsu & Masaaki Yamada

Authors
  1. Hantao Ji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Troy Carter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Scott Hsu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Masaaki Yamada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hantao Ji.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ji, H., Carter, T., Hsu, S. et al. Study of local reconnection physics in a laboratory plasma. Earth Planet Sp 53, 539–545 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353267

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353267

Keywords