title: Laser-induced fluorescence measurement of the ion-energy-distribution function in a collisionless reconnection experiment.
abstract: Observations in space and laboratory plasmas suggest magnetic reconnection as a mechanism for ion heating and formation of non-Maxwellian ion velocity distribution functions (IVDF). Laser-induced fluorescence measurements of the IVDF parallel to the X line of a periodically driven reconnection experiment are presented. A time-resolved analysis yields the evolution of the IVDF within a reconnection cycle. It is shown that reconnection causes a strong increase of the ion temperature, where the strongest increase is found at the maximum reconnection rate. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate that ion heating is a consequence of the in-plane electric field that forms around the X line in response to reconnection.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, EURATOM Association, Greifswald 17491, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Egedal
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Grulke
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Klinger