HR: 09:40h
AN: SH41C-07    [Abstracts]
TI: Experimental merging, coalescence, reconnection, and bouncing of two flux ropes
AU: * Intrator, T
EM: intrator@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P-24 Plasma Physics, Mail Stop E526, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States
AU: Sun, X
EM: xsun@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P-24 Plasma Physics, Mail Stop E526, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States
AU: Furno, I
EM: furno@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P-24 Plasma Physics, Mail Stop E526, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States
AU: Ryutov, D
EM: ryutov1@llnl.gov
AF: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Lab, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550, United States
AU: Dorf, L
EM: ldorf@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, P-24 Plasma Physics, Mail Stop E526, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States
AU: Lapenta, G
EM: lapenta@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, T-15 Plasma Theory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, United States
AB: Dynamics of magnetic flux ropes are of fundamental importance to the Earth's magnetosphere, solar eruptions, and other astrophysical phenomena. In the solar plasmas, flux ropes that emerge through the convection zone may interact with the pre-existing flux ropes on the photosphere. The dynamics may be related to the eruption trigger mechanism. During the emerging process, only those with preferred amounts of twist can survive the interaction with surrounding plasmas. Although their total helicity is expected to remain conserved, the twist could be transferred into writhe via the kink instability. These magnetic reconnection events occurring in nature are three dimensional processes. However, most experimental efforts to understand reconnection have concentrated in two dimensions. There are few experiments concerning the merging of flux ropes, and our Reconnection Scaling Experiment is the only one with fully 3D geometry, that includes finite length flux ropes and adjustable boundary conditions between line tied and non line tied. We report the experimental results on the merging, coalescence, and bouncing, of two flux ropes for strong and moderate guide field.
UR: http://wsx.lanl.gov
DE: 2723 Magnetic reconnection (7526, 7835)
DE: 7524 Magnetic fields
DE: 7526 Magnetic reconnection (2723, 7835)
DE: 7835 Magnetic reconnection (2723, 7526)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting