Radial transport of poloidal and toroidal angular momentum is rapid during a global reconnection event in the MST reversed field pinch experiment. Theoretical explanation has evolved for transport from Maxwell and Reynolds stresses from multiple nonlinearly coupled tearing modes. Comparing stresses from multimode computation with those for a single mode shows that nonlinear coupling (multiple reconnections) greatly enhances transport. Measurement of stresses in MST (edge and core) supports, but does not yet completely confirm, this explanation. In the edge, Reynolds and Maxwell stresses are very large and oppositely directed, with the difference of order of the measured inertial (acceleration) term. These results raise the possibility that current-driven instability (reconnection) could be active in astrophysical accretion disks, for which flow-driven instability is the leading explanation. Thus, we have begun computation of transport from current-driven instability in disks.
*Supported by DOE and NSF
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Authors
S.C. Prager
University of Wisconsin - Madison, Center for Magnetic Self Organization in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas
University of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Wisconsin - Madison
University of Wisconsin, Madison
A.F. Almagri
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Wisconsin Madison
D.J. Den Hartog
University of Wisconsin-Madison and Center for Magnetic Self-Organization
University of Wisconsin - Madison
F. Ebrahimi
University of Wisconsin and Center for Magnetic Self-Organization in Lab and Astrophysical Plasmas
G. Fiksel
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A. Kuritsyn
M.C. Miller
University of Wisconsin - Madison and the CMSO
V.V. Mirnov
J.S. Sarff
University of Wisconsin, and Center for Magnetic Self-Organization in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas
University of Wisconsin-Madison
University of Wisconsin - Madison
UW-Madison, CMSO
University of Wisconsin, Madison
MST and CMSO at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
David Brower
University of Wisconsin - Madison, Center for Magnetic Self Organization in Lab and Astrophysical Plasmas, University of California at Los Angeles
UCLA
Weixing Ding
Department of Physics, University of California, Los Angeles
