Related papers: Taylor state merging at SSX: experiment and simula…
We report the first measurements of equations of state of a fully relaxed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) laboratory plasma. Parcels of magnetized plasma, called Taylor states, are formed in a coaxial magnetized plasma gun, and are allowed to…
Magnetothermodynamics (MTD) is the study of compression and expansion of magnetized plasma with an eye towards identifying equations of state for magneto-inertial fusion experiments. We present recent results from SSX experiments on the…
The RFP is a toroidal magnetic configuration in which plasmas can spontaneously transform into different self-organized states. Among various states, the QSH state has a dominant component for the magnetic field and significantly improves…
We have previously generated elongated Taylor double-helix flux rope plasmas in the SSX MHD wind tunnel. These plasmas are remarkable in their rapid relaxation (about one Alfv\'en time) and their description by simple analytical Taylor…
A supersonic flow of magnetized plasma is produced by the application of a 1 MA-peak, 500 ns current pulse to a cylindrical arrangement of parallel wires, known as an inverse wire array. The plasma flow is produced by the JxB acceleration…
We present a general construction for exact analytic Taylor states in axisymmetric toroidal geometries. In this construction, the Taylor equilibria are fully determined by specifying the aspect ratio, elongation, and triangularity of the…
Magnetized laser-produced plasmas are central to many new studies in laboratory astrophysics, inertial confinement fusion, and industrial applications. Here we present the results of large-scale, three-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamic…
We have explored the thermodynamics of compressed magnetized plasmas in laboratory experiments and we call these studies "magnetothermodynamics". The experiments are carried out in the Swarthmore Spheromak eXperiment device. In this device,…
This study focuses on energy conversion related to tearing-driven magnetic reconnection in the context of weakly collisional astrophysical plasmas. We present results from a two-dimensional hybrid particle-in-cell simulation employing novel…
Magnetic reconnection and associated heating of ions and electrons in strongly magnetised, weakly collisional plasmas are studied by means of gyrokinetic simulations. It is shown that an appreciable amount of the released magnetic energy is…
The adiabatic limit of a recently proposed dynamical extension of Taylor relaxation, \emph{multi-region relaxed magnetohydrodynamics} (MRxMHD) is summarized, with special attention to the appropriate definition of relative magnetic…
Based on global conservation principles, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) relaxation theory predicts the existence of several equilibria, such as the Taylor state or global dynamic alignment. These states are generally viewed as very long-time and…
The formation of quasi-single helicity (QSH) state from a paramagnetic pinch in the KTX-RFP regime has been observed in recent NIMROD simulations. The quasi-single helicity state has a dominant helical component of the magnetic field that…
Twisted magnetic flux ropes are ubiquitous in space and laboratory plasmas, and the merging of such flux ropes through magnetic reconnection is an important mechanism for restructuring magnetic fields and releasing free magnetic energy. The…
In this paper a relaxation theory, proposed several years ago for plasmas where a single dominant mode is present, is revisited. The solutions of the related eigenvalue problem are numerically calculated and discussed. Although these…
Predicting the final state of turbulent plasma relaxation is an important challenge, both in astrophysical plasmas such as the Sun's corona and in controlled thermonuclear fusion. Recent numerical simulations of plasma relaxation with…
Formation of an elongated Sweet-Parker current sheet and a transition to plasmoid instability has for the first time been predicted by simulations in a large-scale toroidal fusion plasma in the absence of any pre-existing instability.…
Plasma relaxation in the presence of an initially braided magnetic field can lead to self-organization into relaxed states that retain non-trivial magnetic structure. These relaxed states may be in conflict with the linear force-free fields…
We conduct a multiparametric study of driven magnetic reconnection relevant to recent experiments on colliding magnetized laser produced plasmas using particle-in-cell simulations. Varying the background plasma density, plasma resistivity,…
Gyrokinetic simulations of magnetic reconnection are presented to investigate plasma heating for strongly magnetized, weakly collisional plasmas. For a low plasma beta case, parallel and perpendicular phase mixing strongly enhance energy…