Identification of the electron-diffusion region during magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma.
We report the first identification of the electron-diffusion region, where demagnetized electrons are accelerated to super-Alfvénic speed, in a reconnecting laboratory plasma. The width of the electron-diffusion region scales with the electron skin depth [ approximately (5.5-7.5)c/omega_{pe}] and the peak electron outflow velocity scales with the electron Alfvén velocity [ approximately (0.12-0.16)V_{eA}], independent of ion mass.
Ren
Yang
Y
Center for Magnetic Self-organization in Laboratory and Astrophysical Plasmas, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA.
Yamada
Masaaki
M
Ji
Hantao
H
Gerhardt
Stefan P
SP
Kulsrud
Russell
R