Experimental mitigation of fast magnetic reconnection in multiple interacting laser-produced plasmas

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates how multiple interacting laser-produced plasmas affect magnetic reconnection rates, revealing that multiple sites can reduce reconnection efficiency due to field distortions and flow obstructions.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental comparison of reconnection rates at single versus multiple sites in laser-produced plasmas, supported by hybrid-PIC simulations.

Findings

Single-site reconnection exceeds rate of 0.1

Multiple sites reduce reconnection rate

Field distortion and flow obstruction hinder reconnection

Abstract

The meeting of astrophysical plasmas and their magnetic fields creates many reconnection sites. We experimentally compare the reconnection rate of laser-driven magnetic reconnection when it takes place at a single site and multiple sites. For a single site, where the ram pressure dominates the magnetic pressure, the measured reconnection rate exceeds the well-established rate of 0.1. However, in the case of multiple close-by sites, we observed a reduction of the reconnection rate. Hybrid-PIC simulations support this observation and suggest that the distortion of the Hall field as well as the concomitant obstruction of one of the outflows are detrimental to the magnetic reconnection rate.