Electromagnetic fluctuations during fast reconnection in a laboratory plasma

Phys Rev Lett. 2004 Mar 19;92(11):115001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.115001. Epub 2004 Mar 18.

Abstract

Experimental evidence for a positive correlation is established between the magnitude of electromagnetic fluctuations up to the lower-hybrid frequency range and enhancement of reconnection rates in a well-controlled laboratory plasma. The fluctuations belong to the right-hand polarized whistler wave branch, propagating obliquely to the reconnecting magnetic field, with a phase velocity comparable to the relative drift velocity between electrons and ions. The measured short coherence lengths indicate their strongly nonlinear nature.