Plasmoids formation during simulations of coaxial helicity injection in the National Spherical Torus Experiment

TL;DR

This paper predicts and demonstrates plasmoid formation during simulations of coaxial helicity injection in a large-scale spherical tokamak, revealing fast reconnection and potential implications for astrophysical phenomena.

Contribution

First simulation prediction of plasmoid formation in a large-scale toroidal fusion plasma without pre-existing instability, supported by experimental image analysis.

Findings

Observation of fast reconnection rates consistent with theory

Identification of reconnecting plasmoids in NSTX images

Implications for astrophysical reconnection and solar eruptions

Abstract

Formation of an elongated Sweet-Parker current sheet and a transition to plasmoid instability has for the first time been predicted by simulations in a large-scale toroidal fusion plasma in the absence of any pre-existing instability. Plasmoid instability is demonstrated through resistive MHD simulations of transient Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) experiments in the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX).Consistent with the theory, fundamental characteristics of the plasmoid instability, including fast reconnection rate, have been observed in these realistic simulations. Motivated by the simulations, experimental camera images have been revisited and suggest the existence of reconnecting plasmoids in NSTX. Global, system-size plasmoid formation observed here should also have strong implications for astrophysical reconnection, such as rapid eruptive solar events.