Identification of the Electron Diffusion Region during Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma

Ren, Yang ; Yamada, Masaaki ; Ji, Hantao ; Gerhardt, Stefan ; Kulsrud, Russell

关键词: DIFFUSION;    ELECTRONS;    MAGNETIC FIELDS;    MAGNETIC RECONNECTION;    PLASMA;    QUADRUPOLES;    VELOCITY Magnetic Reconnection;   

DOI  :  10.2172/958416
RP-ID  :  PPPL-4328
PID  :  OSTI ID: 958416
Others  :  TRN: US0902868

学科分类：原子、分子光学和等离子物理

美国|英语

来源: SciTech Connect

【 摘 要 】

We report the first identification of the electron diffusion region, where demagnetized electrons are accelerated to super-Alfvenic speed, in a reconnecting laboratory plasma. The electron diffusion region is determined from measurements of the out-of-plane quadrupole magnetic field in the neutral sheet in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment. The width of the electron diffusion region scales with the electron skin depth (~ 5.5-7.5c=ωpi) and the peak electron outflow velocity scales with the electron Alfven velocity (~ 0.12 - 0.16VeA), independent of ion mass.