The inductively driven transmission line: A passively coupled device for diagnostic applications on the Z pulsed power facility.

The inductively driven transmission line (IDTL) is a miniature current-carrying device that passively couples to fringe magnetic fields in the final power feed on the Z Pulsed Power Facility. The IDTL redirects a small amount of Z's magnetic energy along a secondary path to ground, thereby enabling pulsed power diagnostics to be driven in parallel with the primary load for the first time. IDTL experiments and modeling presented here indicate that IDTLs operate non-perturbatively on Z and that they can draw in excess of 150 kA of secondary current, which is enough to drive an X-pinch backlighter. Additional experiments show that IDTLs are also capable of making cleaner, higher-fidelity measurements of the current flowing in the final feed.

A dynamic magnetic tension force as the cause of failed solar eruptions.

Coronal mass ejections are solar eruptions driven by a sudden release of magnetic energy stored in the Sun's corona. In many cases, this magnetic energy is stored in long-lived, arched structures called magnetic flux ropes. When a flux rope destabilizes, it can either erupt and produce a coronal mass ejection or fail and collapse back towards the Sun. The prevailing belief is that the outcome of a given event is determined by a magnetohydrodynamic force imbalance called the torus instability. This belief is challenged, however, by observations indicating that torus-unstable flux ropes sometimes fail to erupt. This contradiction has not yet been resolved because of a lack of coronal magnetic field measurements and the limitations of idealized numerical modelling. Here we report the results of a laboratory experiment that reveal a previously unknown eruption criterion below which torus-unstable flux ropes fail to erupt. We find that such 'failed torus' events occur when the guide magnetic field (that is, the ambient field that runs toroidally along the flux rope) is strong enough to prevent the flux rope from kinking. Under these conditions, the guide field interacts with electric currents in the flux rope to produce a dynamic toroidal field tension force that halts the eruption. This magnetic tension force is missing from existing eruption models, which is why such models cannot explain or predict failed torus events.

Conversion of magnetic energy in the magnetic reconnection layer of a laboratory plasma.

Magnetic reconnection, in which magnetic field lines break and reconnect to change their topology, occurs throughout the universe. The essential feature of reconnection is that it energizes plasma particles by converting magnetic energy. Despite the long history of reconnection research, how this energy conversion occurs remains a major unresolved problem in plasma physics. Here we report that the energy conversion in a laboratory reconnection layer occurs in a much larger region than previously considered. The mechanisms for energizing plasma particles in the reconnection layer are identified, and a quantitative inventory of the converted energy is presented for the first time in a well-defined reconnection layer; 50% of the magnetic energy is converted to particle energy, 2/3 of which transferred to ions and 1/3 to electrons. Our results are compared with simulations and space measurements, for a key step towards resolving one of the most important problems in plasma physics.

Laboratory study of magnetic reconnection with a density asymmetry across the current sheet.

The effects of a density asymmetry across the current sheet on anti-parallel magnetic reconnection are studied systematically in a laboratory plasma. Despite a significant density ratio of up to 10, the in-plane magnetic field profile is not significantly changed. On the other hand, the out-of-plane Hall magnetic field profile is considerably modified; it is almost bipolar in structure with the density asymmetry, as compared to quadrupolar in structure with the symmetric configuration. Moreover, the ion stagnation point is shifted to the low-density side, and the electrostatic potential profile also becomes asymmetric with a deeper potential well on the low-density side. Nonclassical bulk electron heating together with electromagnetic fluctuations in the lower hybrid frequency range is observed near the low-density-side separatrix. The dependence of the ion outflow and reconnection electric field on the density asymmetry is measured and compared with theoretical expectations. The measured ion outflow speeds are about 40% of the theoretical values.

Observation of ion acceleration and heating during collisionless magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma.

The ion dynamics in a collisionless magnetic reconnection layer are studied in a laboratory plasma. The measured in-plane plasma potential profile, which is established by electrons accelerated around the electron diffusion region, shows a saddle-shaped structure that is wider and deeper towards the outflow direction. This potential structure ballistically accelerates ions near the separatrices toward the outflow direction. Ions are heated as they travel into the high-pressure downstream region.