Abstract
We report a quantitative experimental test of the Sweet-Parker model of magnetic reconnection in a controlled laboratory plasma. It is found that the observed reconnection rate can be explained by a generalized Sweet-Parker model which incorporates compressibility, downstream pressure, and the effective resistivity. The latter is significantly enhanced over its classical values in the collisionless limit.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 3256-3259 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Journal | Physical review letters |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue number | 15 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1998 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Physics and Astronomy