Kinetic turbulence drives MHD equilibrium change via 3D reconnection.

ABSTRACT: Cross-scale coupling from magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) to non-MHD scales is important in interpreting observations of explosive events in nature, such as solar flares and geomagnetic storms^1,2. Experiments and observations also link it to the emergence of energetic particles and X-rays³. However, how this multi-scale physics affects the abrupt onset of reconnection remains unknown. Here we report observations from laboratory experiments involving two flux ropes with electron beams that induce magnetic turbulence and then abruptly merge into a single structure, altering the magnetic topology in the MHD regime. Two separate electron beams are launched along magnetic field lines and form individual flux ropes with a drift velocity higher than the ambient Alfvén velocity, e

SUBMITTER: Park JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12328213 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature