Reconnection Effects in z-pinch Wire Arrays from 2-D Hall-MHD Simulations

Abstract

Summary form given only. Understanding the initial stages of plasma formation in cylindrical wire-array Z-pinches is a complicated process that probably cannot be fully understood using standard MHD modeling and computer simulation. Results from 2D Hall magneto-hydrodynamic simulations of wire array Z-pinches, using a code specifically developed for this purpose, are presented. In the coronal plasma near the point where the magnetic field reverses due to cancellation by the global magnetic field of the local field from an individual wire, reconnection is found to occur and have considerable effect. The reconnection jets directed towards the central axis significantly contribute to the energetics of the plasma streaming onto the precursor. Direct conversion of magnetic field energy into directed kinetic energy as well as thermal energy due to reconnection is comparable to that resulting from the usual global JxB acceleration of plasma. Results from both MHD and Hall-MHD simulations are compared.