28 octubre 2022
Magnetic reconnection can occur when two plasmas, having anti-parallel components of the magnetic field, encounter each other. In the reconnection plane, the anti-parallel component of the field is annihilated and its energy released in the plasma. Here, we investigate through laboratory experiments the reconnection between two flux tubes that are not strictly anti-parallel. Compression of the anti-parallel component of the magnetic field is observed, as well as a decrease of the reconnection efficiency. Concomitantly, we observe delayed plasma heating and enhanced particle acceleration. Three-dimensional hybrid simulations support these observations and highlight the plasma heating inhibition and reconnection efficiency reduction for these obliquely oriented flux tubes.
Simon Bolaños, Andrey Sladkov, Roch Smets, Sophia N. Chen, Alain Grisollet, Evgeny Filippov, Jose-Luis Henares, Viorel Nastasa, Sergey Pikuz, Raphël Riquier, Maria Safronova, Alexandre Severin, Mikhail Starodubtsev, and Julien Fuchs
