R Datta, K Chandler, C E Myers, J P Chittenden, A J Crilly, C Aragon, D J Ampleford, J T Banasek, A Edens, W R Fox, S B Hansen, E C Harding, C A Jennings, H Ji, C C Kuranz, S V Lebedev, Q Looker, S G Patel, A Porwitzky, G A Shipley, D A Uzdensky, D A Yager-Elorriaga, J D Hare
We present the first experimental study of plasmoid formation in a magnetic reconnection layer undergoing rapid radiative cooling, a regime relevant to extreme astrophysical plasmas. Two exploding aluminum wire arrays, driven by the Z machine, generate a reconnection layer (S_{L}≈120) in which the cooling rate far exceeds the hydrodynamic transit rate (τ_{hydro}/τ_{cool}>100). The reconnection layer generates a transient burst of >1 keV x-ray emission, consistent with the formation and subsequent rapid cooling of the layer...
April 12, 2024: Physical Review Letters