Lecture

Astrophysics 3: Magnetic Reconnection

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In course

PHYS-424: Plasma II

This course completes the knowledge in plasma physics that students have acquired in the previous two courses, with a discussion of different applications, in the fields of magnetic confinement and controlled fusion, astrophysical and space plasmas, and so ...

Description

This lecture covers the concept of magnetic reconnection in astrophysics, focusing on solar flares and the solar wind. It explains the kink instability, the Sweet-Parker model, and ways to modify the reconnection geometry. The instructor discusses the history of magnetic reconnection, fluid simulations, and open questions in the field. The lecture also explores laboratory experiments, the fluid model of the solar wind, and typical values of solar wind parameters.

Instructor

Holger Reimerdes

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Martim Zurita, Marta Pedrini, Benjamin Yong Kwak Brown, Pierre Louis Sintre, Massimo Carpita, Richard Alexander David Ducker, Giuseppe Iunior Drago Past EPFL PhD Students Mirko Wensing, Claudia Colandrea, Guang-Yu Sun Past EPFL PhD Students as codirector Gustavo Paganini Canal, Joyeeta Sinha, Roberto Maurizio Courses Control and Operation of Tokamaks PHYS-748 This course treats the main issues in operation and control of a tokamak. Control-oriented models are de

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Plasma physics: Space-plasma physics

Related concepts (32)

Solar phenomena

Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the atmosphere of the Sun. These phenomena take many forms, including solar wind, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, coronal heating and sunspots. These phenomena are believed to be generated by a helical dynamo, located near the center of the Sun's mass, which generates strong magnetic fields, as well as a chaotic dynamo, located near the surface, which generates smaller magnetic field fluctuations.

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) is a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft built by a European industrial consortium led by Matra Marconi Space (now Airbus Defence and Space) that was launched on a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS launch vehicle on 2 December 1995, to study the Sun. It has also discovered over 4,000 comets. It began normal operations in May 1996. It is a joint project between the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA. SOHO was part of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program (ISTP).

Space physics

Space physics, also known as solar-terrestrial physics or space-plasma physics, is the study of plasmas as they occur naturally in the Earth's upper atmosphere (aeronomy) and within the Solar System. As such, it encompasses a far-ranging number of topics, such as heliophysics which includes the solar physics of the Sun, the solar wind, planetary magnetospheres and ionospheres, auroras, cosmic rays, and synchrotron radiation.

Solar flare

A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phenomena. The occurrence of solar flares varies with the 11-year solar cycle. Solar flares are thought to occur when stored magnetic energy in the Sun's atmosphere accelerates charged particles in the surrounding plasma. This results in the emission of electromagnetic radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Solar cycle 24

Solar cycle 24 is the most recently completed solar cycle, the 24th since 1755, when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began. It began in December 2008 with a minimum smoothed sunspot number of 2.2, and ended in December 2019. Activity was minimal until early 2010. It reached its maximum in April 2014 with a 23 months smoothed sunspot number of 81.8. This maximum value was substantially lower than other recent solar cycles, down to a level which had not been seen since cycles 12 to 15 (1878-1923).

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