Saturation of the compression of two interacting magnetized plasma toroids evidenced in the laboratory
Interactions between magnetic fields advected by matter play a fundamental role in the Universe at a diverse range of scales. A crucial role these interactions play is in making turbulent fields highly anisotropic, leading to observed ordered fields. These in turn, are important evolutionary factors for all the systems within and around. Despite scant evidence, due to the difficulty in measuring even near-Earth events, the magnetic field compression factor in these interactions, measured at very varied scales, is limited to a few. However, compressing matter in which a magnetic field is embedded, results in compression up to several thousands. Here we show, using laboratory experiments and matching three-dimensional hybrid simulations, that there is indeed a very effective saturation of the compression when two independent parallel-oriented magnetic fields regions encounter one another due to plasma advection. We found that the observed saturation is linked to a build-up of the magnetic pressure, which decelerates and redirects the inflows at their encounter point, thereby stopping further compression. Moreover, the growth of an electric field, induced by the incoming flows and the magnetic field, acts in redirecting the inflows transversely, further hampering field compression.
Authors
- H. Ahmed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2151-8971)
- M. Borghesi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9165-0073)
- A. Ciardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5865-6772)
- Evgeny D. Filippov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8774-8860)
- S. N. Chen
- W. Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6017-9300)
- Philip Martin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0928-7445)
- A. McIlvenny (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1044-1534)
- A. Sladkov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7640-5870)
- A. A. Soloviev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8595-5604)
- Ronan Lelièvre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4643-9455)
- С. А. Пикуз (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2529-1142)
- M. Starodubtsev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6705-8042)
- E. d’Humières (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3463-3343)
- P. Antici (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4962-6381)
- A. F. A. Bott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8071-3083)
- Tessa Waltenspiel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9923-8269)
- C. Fegan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6632-7890)
- J. Fuchs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9765-0787)
Institutions
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (GB)
- Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- École Polytechnique (FR)
- Université de Bordeaux (FR)
- Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (FR)
- Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR)
- EnergyAustralia (Australia) (AU)
- Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique (CA)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Laboratoire pour l'Utilisation des Lasers Intenses (FR)
- Laboratoire d’Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matière en Astrophysique et Atmosphères (FR)
- Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications (FR)
- Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (RO)
- Spanish Center for Pulsed Lasers (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2024-11-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53938-3
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.66
Funders
- European Commission
- Université de Bordeaux
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Science and Technology Facilities Council