Measurement of magnetic cavitation driven by heat flow in a plasma

TY - JOUR

T1 - Measurement of magnetic cavitation driven by heat flow in a plasma

AU - Arran, Christopher

AU - Dearling, Adam

AU - Bradford, Philip

AU - Hicks, George S.

AU - Al-Atabi, Saleh

AU - Antonelli, Luca

AU - Ettlinger, Oliver C.

AU - Khan, Matthew

AU - Read, Martin P.

AU - Glize, Kevin

AU - Notley, Margaret

AU - Walsh, Christopher A.

AU - Kingham, Robert J.

AU - Najmudin, Zulfikar

AU - Ridgers, Christopher P.

AU - Woolsey, Nigel C.

N1 - 5 pages, 4 figures

PY - 2023/7/6

Y1 - 2023/7/6

N2 - We describe the direct measurement of the expulsion of a magnetic field from a plasma driven by heat flow. Using a laser to heat a column of gas within an applied magnetic field, we isolate Nernst advection and show how it changes the field over a nanosecond timescale. Reconstruction of the magnetic field map from proton radiographs demonstrates that the field is advected by heat flow in advance of the plasma expansion with a velocity v_N=(6±2)×10^5  m/s. Kinetic and extended magnetohydrodynamic simulations agree well in this regime due to the buildup of a magnetic transport barrier.

AB - We describe the direct measurement of the expulsion of a magnetic field from a plasma driven by heat flow. Using a laser to heat a column of gas within an applied magnetic field, we isolate Nernst advection and show how it changes the field over a nanosecond timescale. Reconstruction of the magnetic field map from proton radiographs demonstrates that the field is advected by heat flow in advance of the plasma expansion with a velocity v_N=(6±2)×10^5  m/s. Kinetic and extended magnetohydrodynamic simulations agree well in this regime due to the buildup of a magnetic transport barrier.

KW - physics.plasm-ph

U2 - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.015101

DO - 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.015101

M3 - Article

SN - 0031-9007

VL - 131

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

M1 - 015101

ER -