Self-organized electromagnetic field structures in laser-produced counter-streaming plasmas

ABSTRACT Self-organization1,2 occurs in plasmas when energy progressively transfers from smaller to larger scales in an inverse cascade3. Global structures that emerge from turbulent plasmas

can be found in the laboratory4 and in astrophysical settings; for example, the cosmic magnetic field5,6, collisionless shocks in supernova remnants7 and the internal structures of newly

formed stars known as Herbig–Haro objects8. Here we show that large, stable electromagnetic field structures can also arise within counter-streaming supersonic plasmas in the laboratory.

These surprising structures, formed by a yet unexplained mechanism, are predominantly oriented transverse to the primary flow direction, extend for much larger distances than the intrinsic

plasma spatial scales and persist for much longer than the plasma kinetic timescales. Our results challenge existing models of counter-streaming plasmas and can be used to better understand

large-scale and long-time plasma self-organization. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS

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institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS FORMATION OF TURING PATTERNS IN STRONGLY MAGNETIZED ELECTRIC DISCHARGES Article

Open access 19 August 2023 EVIDENCE OF ENTROPY CASCADE IN COLLISIONLESS MAGNETIZED PLASMA TURBULENCE Article Open access 27 December 2022 TOPOLOGY OF TURBULENCE WITHIN COLLISIONLESS PLASMA

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thank the staff of the OMEGA EP laser facility for their experimental support. This work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by the Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory, under Contract No. DE-AC52-07NA27344. Further support was provided by LLNL LDRD grant No. 11-ERD-054 and the International Collaboration for High Energy Density Science (ICHEDS),

supported by the Core-to-Core Program of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. The research leading to these results received funding from the European Research Council under the

European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013), ERC grant agreement nos 256973 and 247039. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA N. L. Kugland, D. D. Ryutov, S. H. Glenzer, M. C. Levy, C. Plechaty, B. A. Remington, J. S. Ross & H-S. Park * Laboratory for Laser

Energetics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14636, USA P-Y. Chang, G. Fiksel & D. H. Froula * Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences, University of Michigan,

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA R. P. Drake, M. Grosskopf & C. Kuranz * Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PU, UK G. Gregori, J. Meinecke & B.

Reville * Laboratoire pour l’Utilisation des Lasers Intenses (LULI), École Polytechnique-Univ, Paris VI, 91128 Palaiseau, France M. Koenig, A. Pelka & A. Ravasio * Institute of Laser

Energetics, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan Y. Kuramitsu, T. Morita, Y. Sakawa & H. Takabe * Rice University, Houston, Texas 77251, USA M. C. Levy & E. Liang * Physics

Department, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 27, ETH-Zürich, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland F. Miniati * University of Nevada, Reno, 1664 North Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA R. Presura *

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA A. Spitkovsky Authors * N. L. Kugland View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * D. D.

Ryutov View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * P-Y. Chang View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

* R. P. Drake View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * G. Fiksel View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * D. H. Froula View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * S. H. Glenzer View author publications You can also search for this author

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Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS N.L.K. and H-S.P. designed and prepared the experiment. The OMEGA EP experiments were carried out by N.L.K., H-S.P., G.G., M.K., Y.K., J.M., T.M., A.P., C.P.,

J.S.R. and Y.S. The paper was written by N.L.K., D.D.R. and G.G. The data were analysed by N.L.K. and D.D.R. Further experimental and theoretical support was provided by P-Y.C., R.P.D.,

G.F., D.H.F., S.H.G., M.G., C.K., M.C.L., E.L., F.M., R.P., A.R., B.A.R., B.R., A.S. and H.T. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to N. L. Kugland. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS

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permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Kugland, N., Ryutov, D., Chang, PY. _et al._ Self-organized electromagnetic field structures in laser-produced counter-streaming plasmas.

_Nature Phys_ 8, 809–812 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2434 Download citation * Received: 30 May 2012 * Accepted: 28 August 2012 * Published: 30 September 2012 * Issue Date: November

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