Formation of Plasmoid Chains in Fusion Relevant Plasmas

The formation of plasmoid chains is explored for the first time within the context of the Taylor problem, in which magnetic reconnection is driven by a small amplitude boundary perturbation in a tearing-stable slab plasma equilibrium. Numerical simulations of a magnetohydrodynamical model of the pla...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inarXiv.org
Main Authors Comisso, Luca, Grasso, Daniela, Waelbroeck, François L
Format Paper Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ithaca Cornell University Library, arXiv.org 02.12.2014
Subjects
Chains
Computer simulation
Mathematical models
Physics - Plasma Physics
Plasma equilibrium
Plasmas
Plasmas (physics)
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Summary:The formation of plasmoid chains is explored for the first time within the context of the Taylor problem, in which magnetic reconnection is driven by a small amplitude boundary perturbation in a tearing-stable slab plasma equilibrium. Numerical simulations of a magnetohydrodynamical model of the plasma show that for very small plasma resistivity and viscosity, the linear inertial phase is followed by a nonlinear Sweet-Parker evolution, which gives way to a faster reconnection regime characterized by a chain of plasmoids instead of a slower Rutherford phase.
ISSN:2331-8422
DOI:10.48550/arxiv.1412.0933