NIFS-052

FULL TEXT (PDF, 625 KB)


Author(s):

T.Sato, R.Horiuchi, K. Watanabe, T. Hayashi and K.Kusano

Title:

Self-Organizing Magnetohydrodynamic Plasma

Date of publication:

Sep. 1990

Key words:

relaxation, self-organization, computer simulation, magnetohydrodynamics, magnetic reconnection, magnetic helicity

Abstract:

In a resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma, both the magnetic energy and the magnetic helicity dissipate with the resitive time scale. When sufficiently large free magnetic energy does exist, however, an idial current driven instability is excited whereby magnetic reconnection is driven at a converging point of induced plasma flows which does exist in a bounded compressible plasma. At a reconnection point excess free energy (entropy) is rapidly dissipated by ohmic heating and lost by radiation, while magnetic helicity is completely conserved. The magnetic topology is largely changed by reconnection and a new orderd structure with the same helicity is created. It is discussed that magnetic reconnection plays a key role in the MHD self-organization process.

List of NIFS Report (1990)Return toContents Page Return toNIFS Homepage
footer
 National Institute for Fusion Science
Copyright: 1995-2007 National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS)
Address: 322-6,Oroshi-cho, Toki, GIFU, 509-5292, Japan
Telephone:+81-572-58-2222