Plasmoid formation and strong radiative cooling in a driven magnetic reconnection experiment

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2401.04643
• Publication Date: 2024-01-01
• Authors: R. Datta; K. M. Chandler; C. E. Myers; J. P. Chittenden; Aidan Crilly; C. Aragón; D. J. Ampleford; Jacob Banasek; Aaron Edens; W. Fox; Stephanie B. Hansen; Eric Harding; Christopher Jennings; Hantao Ji; Carolyn Kuranz; S. V. Lebedev; Quinn Looker; S. G. Patel; Andrew Porwitzky; Gabriel Shipley; Dmitri Uzdensky; D. A. Yager-Elorr...; Jack Hare
• Keywords: Plasmoid; Radiative Cooling

We present results from the first experimental study of strongly radiatively-cooled magnetic reconnection. Two exploding aluminum wire arrays, driven simultaneously by Z machine ($I_{max} = 20 \, \text{MA}$, $t_{\text{rise}} 300 \text{ns}$), generate a reconnection layer ($S_L \approx 120$) in which total cooling rate exceeds hydrodynamic transit ($\tau_{\text{hydro}}/\tau_{\text{cool}} > 100$). Measurements X-ray emission using filtered diode ($>1$ keV) show narrow (50 ns FWHM) burst at 220 after current start, consistent with formation and subsequent rapid layer. Time-gated images fast-moving (up to 50 km/s) hotspots inside layer, presence plasmoids observed 3D resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. spectroscopy shows that these majority Al K-shell (at around 1.6 prior onset cooling, exhibit temperatures 170 eV, much greater than temperature plasma inflows rest