Characterizing the temporal evolution of Biermann-battery-driven magnetic reconnection in laser-ablated plasmas

@misc{morita2026characterizing,
  title = {{Characterizing the temporal evolution of Biermann-battery-driven magnetic reconnection in laser-ablated plasmas}},
  author = {T. Morita and Y. Muramoto and S. Isayama and M. Edamoto and M. Hanano and R. Ishikawa and Y. Kanesada and K. Koba and H. Kondo and S. Kurimaru and K. Maeda and Y. Maenosono and S. Matsukiyo and A. Morita and Y. Nagamatsu and G. Nakayama and T. Ogawa and K. Oshida and Y. Pan and K. Sakai and T. Sano and Y. Sato and N. Shimoda and J. Shiota and Y. Sudo and Y. Suzuki and T. Takezaki and S. J. Tanaka and K. Tomita and S. Ueno and S. Yakura and R. Yamazaki and Y. Sakawa},
  howpublished = {arXiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.19591},
  eprint = {2608.19591},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.19591},
}

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Characterizing the temporal evolution of Biermann-battery-driven magnetic reconnection in laser-ablated plasmas
AU  - T. Morita
AU  - Y. Muramoto
AU  - S. Isayama
AU  - M. Edamoto
AU  - M. Hanano
AU  - R. Ishikawa
AU  - Y. Kanesada
AU  - K. Koba
AU  - H. Kondo
AU  - S. Kurimaru
AU  - K. Maeda
AU  - Y. Maenosono
AU  - S. Matsukiyo
AU  - A. Morita
AU  - Y. Nagamatsu
AU  - G. Nakayama
AU  - T. Ogawa
AU  - K. Oshida
AU  - Y. Pan
AU  - K. Sakai
AU  - T. Sano
AU  - Y. Sato
AU  - N. Shimoda
AU  - J. Shiota
AU  - Y. Sudo
AU  - Y. Suzuki
AU  - T. Takezaki
AU  - S. J. Tanaka
AU  - K. Tomita
AU  - S. Ueno
AU  - S. Yakura
AU  - R. Yamazaki
AU  - Y. Sakawa
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/20
PB  - arXiv
DO  - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.19591
UR  - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.19591
AB  - This paper presents an experimental investigation of magnetic reconnection between two laser-produced expanding plasmas, focusing on the quantitative evaluation of the reconnection rate and energy conversion under varying initial conditions. By changing the separation distance between the drive laser focal spots (1 mm and 2 mm), we systematically controlled the inflow parameters. The reconnection region was probed using a two-directional laser Thomson scattering (LTS) system, which simultaneously measured the local plasma parameters parallel to the outflows and along the current sheet. Based on our established method incorporating macroscopic energy and mass conservation laws to derive the upstream magnetic field directly from LTS spectra, we characterized the temporal evolution of the current sheet and the reconnection rate. The larger spot separation allows the plasma bubbles to expand for a substantially longer time before the formation of a reconnection current sheet, resulting in different upstream conditions. Nevertheless, both configurations yielded comparable upstream magnetic fields and reconnection rates. These results suggest that the reconnection rate is relatively insensitive to the global inflow conditions and is primarily controlled by the local physics of the reconnection layer once a current sheet is formed.
ER  -