Role of Z-pinches in magnetic reconnection in space plasmas

A widely accepted scenario of magnetic reconnection in collisionless space plasmas is the breakage of magnetic field lines in X-points. In laboratory, reconnection is commonly studied in pinches, current channels embedded into twisted magnetic fields. No model of magnetic reconnection in space plasmas considers both null-points and pinches as peers. We have performed a particle-in-cell simulation of magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional configuration where null-points are present initially, and Z-pinches are formed during the simulation along the lines of spiral null-points. The non-spiral null-points are more stable than spiral ones, and no substantial energy dissipation is associated with them. On the contrary, turbulent magnetic reconnection in the pinches causes the magnetic energy to decay at a rate of ~1.5% per ion gyro period. Dissipation in similar structures is a likely scenario in space plasmas with large fraction of spiral null-points

Separatrices: the crux of reconnection

Reconnection is one of the key processes in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas: it is the opposite of a dynamo. Looking at energy, a dynamo transforms kinetic energy in magnetic energy while reconnection takes magnetic energy and returns is to its kinetic form. Most plasma processes at their core involve first storing magnetic energy accumulated over time and then releasing it suddenly. We focus here on this release. A key concept in analysing reconnection is that of the separatrix, a surface (line in 2D) that separates the fresh unperturbed plasma embedded in magnetic field lines not yet reconnected with the hotter exhaust embedded in reconnected field lines. In kinetic physics, the separatrices become a layer where many key processes develop. We present here new results relative to the processes at the separatrices that regulate the plasma flow, the energisation of the species, the electromagnetic fields and the instabilities developing at the separatrices

Impact of Parental Encouragement on Perceived Barriers to Exercise

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Kinetic Simulations of Plasmoid Chain Dynamics

The dynamics of a plasmoid chain is studied with three dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. The evolution of the system with and without a uniform guide field, whose strength is 1/3 the asymptotic magnetic field, is investigated. The plasmoid chain forms by spontaneous magnetic reconnection: the tearing instability rapidly disrupts the initial current sheet generating several small-scale plasmoids, that rapidly grow in size coalescing and kinking. The plasmoid kink is mainly driven by the coalescence process. It is found that the presence of guide field strongly influences the evolution of the plasmoid chain. Without a guide field, a main reconnection site dominates and smaller reconnection regions are included in larger ones, leading to an hierarchical structure of the plasmoid-dominated current sheet. On the contrary in presence of a guide field, plasmoids have approximately the same size and the hierarchical structure does not emerge, a strong core magnetic field develops in the center of the plasmoid in the direction of the existing guide field, and bump-on-tail instability, leading to the formation of electron holes, is detected in proximity of the plasmoids

Enhanced Model of Nonlinear Spiral High Voltage Divider

This paper deals with the enhanced accurate DC and RF model of nonlinear spiral polysilicon voltage divider. The high resistance polysilicon divider is a sensing part of the high voltage start-up MOSFET transistor that can operate up to 700 V. This paper presents the structure of a proposed model, implemented voltage, frequency and temperature dependency, and scalability. A special attention is paid to the ability of the created model to cover the mismatch and influence of a variation of process parameters on the device characteristics. Finally, the comparison of measured data vs. simulation is presented in order to confirm the model validity and a typical application is demonstrated