Observations of Pressure Anisotropy Effects within Semi-Collisional Magnetized-Plasma Bubbles
Abstract
Magnetized plasma interactions are ubiquitous in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. Various physical effects have been shown to be important within colliding plasma flows influenced by opposing magnetic fields, however, experimental verification of the mechanisms within the interaction region has remained elusive. Here we discuss a laser-plasma experiment whereby experimental results verify that Biermann battery generated magnetic fields are advected by Nernst flows and anisotropic pressure effects dominate these flows in a reconnection region. These fields are mapped using time-resolved proton probing in multiple directions. Various experimental, modelling and analytical techniques demonstrate the importance of anisotropic pressure in semi-collisional, high- plasmas, causing a reduction in the magnitude of the reconnecting fields when compared to resistive processes. Anisotropic pressure dynamics are crucial in collisionless plasmas, but are often neglected in collisional plasmas. We show pressure anisotropy to be essential in maintaining the interaction layer, redistributing magnetic fields even for semi-collisional, high energy density physics (HEDP) regimes
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2010.09924,
title = {Observations of Pressure Anisotropy Effects within Semi-Collisional Magnetized-Plasma Bubbles},
author = {E. R. Tubman and A. S. Joglekar and A. F. A. Bott and M. Borghesi and B. Coleman and G. Cooper and C. N. Danson and P. Durey and J. M. Foster and P. Graham and G. Gregori and E. T. Gumbrell and M. P. Hill. T. Hodge and S. Kar and R. J. Kingham and M. Read and C. P. Ridgers and J. Skidmore and C. Spindloe and A. G. R. Thomas and P. Treadwell and S. Wilson and L. Willingale and N. C. Woolsey},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2010.09924},
year = {2020}
}