Life on MARZ

We’ve had a flurry of papers out on our MARZ (Magnetic Reconnection on Z) experiments, led by first-author Rishabh Datta, which have drawn interest from a broader audience. Some quick highlights:

• Our simulation paper Simulations of radiatively cooled magnetic reconnection driven by pulsed power was published in the Journal of Plasma Physics, presenting a detailed analysis of 2D and 3D radiation-transport magneto-hydrodynamic simulations carried out to prepare for and interpret the results of our experiments. In particular, we highlighted the role played by plasmoids (instabilities within the reconnection layer) in the radiative cooling process, with the plasmoid emitting the majority of the high energy photons in these simulations.

• Our letter on the results from our X-ray diagnostics, Plasmoid Formation and Strong Radiative Cooling in a Driven Magnetic Reconnection Experiment was published in Physical REview Letters, and was highlighted as an Editors’ suggestion. This letter shows clear evidence for fast-moving, dense, hot regions of localised X-ray emission which rapidly dim, consistent with the radiatively-collapsing plasmoids seen in our 3D simulations.

• Our longer results paper, Radiatively cooled magnetic reconnection experiments driven by pulsed power was published in Physics of Plasmas, and was highlighted as an Editor’s pick. This detailed paper looks at all of the diagnostics we used to constrain the inflows to the reconnection layer, the properties of the layer, and the power balance within the layer.

• Jack presented these results at Plasma Seminar at UCLA, at the ECLIPSE meeting in Rochester NY, and at the Princeton/Instittue for Advanced Study Astrophysics Colloquium in Princeton NJ.

• The American Institute of Physics presented an overview of our work in a ‘Scilight’ by Chris Patrick, aimed at a broad audience, titled Accessing a new regime of reconnection

• Nature Astronomy published a research highlight by Bishwanath Gaire, titled Magnetic Reconnection on Z experiments which gave a brief overview of our work aimed at the astronomy and astrophysics community.

Our PRL was an Editors' Suggestion, and was featured prominently on the home page of PRL.