title: A laboratory study of asymmetric magnetic reconnection in strongly driven plasmas.
abstract: Magnetic reconnection, the annihilation and rearrangement of magnetic fields in a plasma, is a universal phenomenon that frequently occurs when plasmas carrying oppositely directed field lines collide. In most natural circumstances, the collision is asymmetric (the two plasmas having different properties), but laboratory research to date has been limited to symmetric configurations. In addition, the regime of strongly driven magnetic reconnection, where the ram pressure of the plasma dominates the magnetic pressure, as in several astrophysical environments, has also received little experimental attention. Thus, we have designed the experiments to probe reconnection in asymmetric, strongly driven, laser-generated plasmas. Here we show that, in this strongly driven system, the rate of magnetic flux annihilation is dictated by the relative flow velocities of the opposing plasmas and is insensitive to initial asymmetries. In addition, out-of-plane magnetic fields that arise from asymmetries in the three-dimensional plasma geometry have minimal impact on the reconnection rate, due to the strong flows.
authors: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Rosenberg
authors: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: C K
authors: CK
authors: Li
authors: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey 08543, USA.
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Fox
authors: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors: I
authors: I
authors: Igumenshchev
authors: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: F H
authors: FH
authors: Séguin
authors: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
authors: R P J
authors: RP
authors: Town
authors: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: J A
authors: JA
authors: Frenje
authors: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Stoeckl
authors: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14623, USA.
authors: V
authors: V
authors: Glebov
authors: Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors: R D
authors: RD
authors: Petrasso