Vortices, Reconnection and Turbulence in High Electron-Beta Plasmas

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Plasmas in which the kinetic energy exceeds the magnetic energy by a significant factor are common in space and in the laboratory. Such plasmas can convect magnetic fields and create null points in whose vicinity first the ions become unmagnetized, then the electrons. This project focuses on the detailed study of the transition regime of these plasmas. Experiments within the project will address three topics: 1) reconnection at three-dimensional null points produced by nonlinear magnetic vortices; 2) small-scale structures such as current sheets below the electron inertial scale length; and 3) magnetic turbulence and anomalous electron transport.