The evolution of magnetic tower jets in the laboratory

Ciardi, A.; Lebedev, S. V.; Frank, A.; Blackman, E. G.; Chittenden, J. P.; Jennings, C. J.; Ampleford, D. J.; Bland, S. N.; Bott, S. C.; Rapley, J.; Hall, G. N.; Suzuki-Vidal, F. A.; Marocchino, A.; Lery, T.; Stehle, C.

The evolution of magnetic tower jets in the laboratory

Authors

Description

The evolution of laboratory produced magnetic jets is followed numerically through three-dimensional, non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The experiments are designed to study the interaction of a purely toroidal field with an extended plasma background medium. The system is observed to evolve into a structure consisting of an approximately cylindrical magnetic cavity with an embedded magnetically confined jet on its axis. The supersonic expansion produces a shell of swept-up shocked plasma which surrounds and partially confines the magnetic tower. Currents initially flow along the walls of the cavity and in the jet but the development of current-driven instabilities leads to the disruption of the jet and a re-arrangement of the field and currents. The top of the cavity breaks-up and a well collimated, radiatively cooled, 'clumpy' jet emerges from the system.
34 Pages, 10 Figure, Accepted for publication in Physics of Plasmas