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Laminar and turbulent plasmoid ejection in a laboratory Parker Spiral current sheet

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2021

Ethan E. Peterson Open the ORCID record for Ethan E. Peterson [Opens in a new window] ,
Douglass A. Endrizzi Open the ORCID record for Douglass A. Endrizzi [Opens in a new window] ,
Michael Clark ,
Jan Egedal Open the ORCID record for Jan Egedal [Opens in a new window] ,
Kenneth Flanagan ,
Nuno F. Loureiro ,
Jason Milhone ,
Joseph Olson Open the ORCID record for Joseph Olson [Opens in a new window] ,
Carl R. Sovinec Open the ORCID record for Carl R. Sovinec [Opens in a new window]  and
John Wallace
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Ethan E. Peterson*
Affiliation:
Plasma Science and Fusion Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Douglass A. Endrizzi
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Michael Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Jan Egedal
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Kenneth Flanagan
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Nuno F. Loureiro
Affiliation:
Plasma Science and Fusion Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Jason Milhone
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Joseph Olson
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Carl R. Sovinec
Affiliation:
Engineering Physics Department, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
John Wallace
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
Cary B. Forest
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Quasi-periodic plasmoid formation at the tip of magnetic streamer structures is observed to occur in experiments on the Big Red Ball as well as in simulations of these experiments performed with the extended magnetohydrodynamics code, NIMROD. This plasmoid formation is found to occur on a characteristic time scale dependent on pressure gradients and magnetic curvature in both experiment and simulation. Single mode, or laminar, plasmoids exist when the pressure gradient is modest, but give way to turbulent plasmoid ejection when the system drive is higher, which produces plasmoids of many sizes. However, a critical pressure gradient is also observed, below which plasmoids are never formed. A simple heuristic model of this plasmoid formation process is presented and suggested to be a consequence of a dynamic loss of equilibrium in the high-$\beta$ region of the helmet streamer. This model is capable of explaining the periodicity of plasmoids observed in the experiment and simulations, and produces plasmoid periods of 90 minutes when applied to two-dimensional models of solar streamers with a height of $3R_\odot$. This is consistent with the location and frequency at which periodic plasma blobs have been observed to form by Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronograph and Sun Earth Connection Coronal and Heliospheric Investigation instruments.

Keywords

space plasma physicsplasma simulationplasma dynamics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 87 , Issue 4 , August 2021 , 905870410
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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