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Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous fundamental process in space and astrophysical plasmas that rapidly converts magnetic energy into some combination of flow energy, thermal energy, and non-thermal energetic particles. Over the past decade, a new experimental platform has been developed to study magnetic reconnection using strong coil currents powered by high power lasers at low plasma beta, typical conditions under which reconnection is energetically important in astrophysics. KJ-class lasers were used to drive parallel currents to reconnect MG-level magnetic fields in a quasi-axisymmetric geometry, similar to the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment or MRX, and thus this platform is named micro-MRX. This presentation summarizes two major findings from micro-MRX: direct measurement of accelerated electrons and observation of ion acoustic waves during anti-parallel reconnection. The angular dependence of the measured electron energy spectrum and the resulting accelerated energies, supported by particle-in-cell simulations, indicate that direct acceleration by the out-of-plane reconnection electric field is at work. Furthermore, a sudden onset of ion acoustic bursts has been measured by collective Thomson scattering in the exhaust of magnetic reconnection, followed by electron acoustic bursts with electron heating and bulk acceleration. These results demonstrate that the micro-MRX platform offers a novel and unique approach to study magnetic reconnection in the laboratory in addition to the capabilities provided by traditional magnetized plasma experiments such as MRX and the upcoming FLARE (Facility for Laboratory Reconnection experiments). Future approaches to study other particle acceleration mechanisms and ion acoustic waves from magnetic reconnection are also discussed., Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 89 references, accepted for publication in Physics of Plasmas

We present a detailed characterization of the structure and evolution of differentially rotating plasmas driven on the MAGPIE pulsed-power generator (1.4 MA peak current, 240 ns rise-time). The experiments were designed to simulate physics relevant to accretion discs and jets on laboratory scales. A cylindrical aluminium wire array Z pinch enclosed by return posts with an overall azimuthal off-set angle was driven to produce ablation plasma flows that propagate inwards in a slightly off-radial trajectory, injecting mass, angular momentum, and confining ram pressure to a rotating plasma column on the axis. However, the plasma is free to expand axially, forming a collimated, differentially rotating axial jet that propagates at $\approx 100$ km/s. The density profile of the jet corresponds to a dense shell surrounding a low-density core, which is consistent with the centrifugal barrier effect being sustained along the jet's propagation. We show analytically that, as the rotating plasma accretes mass, conservation of mass and momentum implies plasma radial growth scaling as $r \propto t^{1/3}$. As the characteristic moment of inertia increases, the rotation velocity is predicted to decrease and settle on a characteristic value $\approx 20$ km/s. We find that both predictions are in agreement with Thomson scattering and optical self-emission imaging measurements., Comment: Final Production Files accepted by the Journal of Plasma Physics on 18th May 2024. 9 figures

We report on the results of a simulation based study of colliding magnetized plasma flows. Our set-up mimics pulsed power laboratory astrophysical experiments but, with an appropriate frame change, are relevant to astrophysical jets with internal velocity variations. We track the evolution of the interaction region where the two flows collide. Cooling via radiative loses are included in the calculation. We systematically vary plasma beta ($\beta_m$) in the flows, the strength of the cooling ($\Lambda_0$) and the exponent ($\alpha$) of temperature-dependence of the cooling function. We find that for strong magnetic fields a counter-propagating jet called a "spine" is driven by pressure from shocked toroidal fields. The spines eventually become unstable and break apart. We demonstrate how formation and evolution of the spines depends on initial flow parameters and provide a simple analytic model that captures the basic features of the flow., Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures. Submitted to MNRAS

Supersonic interacting flows occurring in phenomena such as protostellar jets give rise to strong shocks, and have been demonstrated in several laboratory experiments. To study such colliding flows, we use the AstroBEAR AMR code to conduct hydrodynamic simulations in three dimensions. We introduce variations in the flow parameters of density, velocity, and cross sectional radius of the colliding flows %radius in order to study the propagation and conical shape of the bow shock formed by collisions between two, not necessarily symmetric, hypersonic flows. We find that the motion of the interaction region is driven by imbalances in ram pressure between the two flows, while the conical structure of the bow shock is a result of shocked lateral outflows (SLOs) being deflected from the horizontal when the flows are of differing cross-section.

Collisional self-interactions occurring in protostellar jets give rise to strong shocks, the structure of which can be affected by radiative cooling within the flow. To study such colliding flows, we use the AstroBEAR AMR code to conduct hydrodynamic simulations in both one and three dimensions with a power law cooling function. The characteristic length and time scales for cooling are temperature dependent and thus may vary as shocked gas cools. When the cooling length decreases sufficiently rapidly the system becomes unstable to the radiative shock instability, which produces oscillations in the position of the shock front; these oscillations can be seen in both the one and three dimensional cases. Our simulations show no evidence of the density clumping characteristic of a thermal instability, even when the cooling function meets the expected criteria. In the three-dimensional case, the nonlinear thin shell instability (NTSI) is found to dominate when the cooling length is sufficiently small. When the flows are subjected to the radiative shock instability, oscillations in the size of the cooling region allow NTSI to occur at larger cooling lengths, though larger cooling lengths delay the onset of NTSI by increasing the oscillation period., Comment: 12 pages, 21 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS

This white paper summarizes major scientific challenges and opportunities in understanding magnetic reconnection and related explosive phenomena as a fundamental plasma process., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, white paper submitted to both Plasma 2020 and Astro 2020 Decadal Surveys

We show that non-axisymmetric, non-helical perturbations in an unstratified shear flow produce a shear-plane averaged electromotive force (EMF) proportional to a spatially dependent kinetic helicity. This new "shear-driven $\alpha$-effect" can amplify shear-plane averaged magnetic fields, but is undiscoverable when invoking the homogeneity assumption for dynamo coefficients. It is a candidate mechanism underlying large scale field generation in astrophysical, laboratory, and simulated shear flows, and highlights the essentiality of correctly averaging dynamo coefficients and fields., Comment: 4 pages

For cylindrical differentially rotating plasmas, we study large-scale magnetic field generation from finite amplitude non-axisymmetric perturbations by comparing numerical simulations with quasi-linear analytic theory. When initiated with a vertical magnetic field of either zero or finite net flux, our global cylindrical simulations exhibit the magnetorotational instability (MRI) and large scale dynamo growth of radially alternating mean fields, averaged over height and azimuth. This dynamo growth is explained by our analytic calculations of a non-axisymmetric fluctuation-induced EMF that is sustained by azimuthal shear of the fluctuating fields. The standard "Omega effect" (shear of the mean field by differential rotation) is unimportant. For the MRI case, we express the large-scale dynamo field as a function of differential rotation. The resulting radially alternating large-scale fields may have implications for angular momentum transport in disks and corona. To connect with previous work on large scale dynamos with local linear shear and identify the minimum conditions needed for large scale field growth, we also solve our equations in local Cartesian coordinates. We find that large scale dynamo growth in a linear shear flow without rotation can be sustained by shear plus non-axisymmetric fluctuations -- even if not helical, a seemingly previously unidentified distinction. The linear shear flow dynamo emerges as a more restricted version of our more general new global cylindrical calculations., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures (submitted to MNRAS)

Interaction between a central outflow and a surrounding wind is common in astrophysical sources powered by accretion. Understanding how the interaction might help to collimate the inner central outflow is of interest for assessing astrophysical jet formation paradigms. In this context, we studied the interaction between two nested supersonic plasma flows generated by focusing a long pulse high-energy laser beam onto a solid target. A nested geometry was created by shaping the energy distribution at the focal spot with a dedicated phase plate. Optical and X-ray diagnostics were used to study the interacting flows. Experimental results and numerical hydrodynamic simulations indeed show the formation of strongly collimated jets. Our work experimentally confirms the "shock-focused inertial confinement" mechanism proposed in previous theoretical astrophysics investigations., Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, 1 table; accepted by Physical Review Letters

Models of large scale (magnetohydrodynamic) dynamos (LSD) which couple large scale field growth to total magnetic helicity evolution best predict the saturation of LSDs seen in simulations. For the simplest so called "{\alpha}2" LSDs in periodic boxes, the electromotive force driving LSD growth depends on the difference between the time-integrated kinetic and current helicity associated with fluctuations. When the system is helically kinetically forced (KF), the growth of the large scale helical field is accompanied by growth of small scale magnetic (and current) helicity which ultimately quench the LSD. Here, using both simulations and theory, we study the complementary magnetically forced(MF) case in which the system is forced with an electric field that supplies magnetic helicity. For this MF case, the kinetic helicity becomes the back-reactor that saturates the LSD. Simulations of both MF and KF cases can be approximately modeled with the same equations of magnetic helicity evolution, but with complementary initial conditions. A key difference between KF and MF cases is that the helical large scale field in the MF case grows with the same sign of injected magnetic helicity, whereas the large and small scale magnetic helicities grow with opposite sign for the KF case. The MF case can arise even when the thermal pressure is approximately smaller than the magnetic pressure, and requires only that helical small scale magnetic fluctuations dominate helical velocity fluctuations in LSD driving. We suggest that LSDs in accretion discs and Babcock models of the solar dynamo are actually MF LSDs., Comment: 12 pages, 34 figures

Faraday rotation (FR) is widely used to infer the orientation and strength of magnetic fields in astrophysical plasmas. Although the absence of electron-positron pairs is a plausible assumption in many astrophysical environments, the magnetospheres of pulsars and black holes and their associated jets may involve a significant pair plasma fraction. This motivates being mindful of the effect of positrons on FR. Here we derive and interpret exact expressions of FR for a neutral plasma of arbitrary composition. We focus on electron-ion-positron plasmas in which charge neutrality is maintained by an arbitrary combination of ions and positrons. Because a pure electron-positron plasma has zero FR, the greater the fraction of positrons the higher the field strength required to account for the same FR. We first obtain general formulae and then specifically consider parameters relevant to active galctic nuclei (AGN) jets to illustrate the significant differences in field strengths that FR measurements from radio frequency measurements. Complementarily, using galaxy cluster core plasmas as examples, we discuss how plasma composition can be constrained if independent measurements of the field strength and number density are available and combined with FR., Comment: Submitted to MNRAS