Three-Dimensional Magnetic and Electrostatic Measurements of Spontaneous Magnetic Reconnection

A new closed magnetic configuration has recently been implemented in the Versatile Toroidal Facility (VTF) utilizing internal coils to generate a poloidal field with a characteristic X-line geometry. Although driven uniformly, reconnection often occurs in short, rapid bursts triggered internally in the plasma [1]. To study in detail the onset of fast magnetic reconnection and the accompanying three- dimensional plasma dynamics, new arrays of magnetic and electrostatic probes have been constructed. These yield high- resolution profiles of the magnetic field simultaneously at several toroidal locations. Here we present preliminary measurements on the dynamical onset and evolution of fast reconnection.\\[1ex] [1] J Egedal, et al., (2007) Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 015003.