Reply [to “Comment on ‘Magnetic field line reconnection experiments,’ Parts 1–4 by R. L. Stenzel, W. Gekelman, and N. Wild”]

Local Measurement of Nonclassical Ion Heating during Magnetic Reconnection

“…In the pioneering UCLA experiments, ion acceleration, possibly reduced by wave turbulence [7], and electron heating [8] were observed. However, ion heating could not be addressed because these experiments were in the "electron MHD" regime in which ρ i L. In TS-3 at the University of Tokyo, toroidal Alfvénic flows were believed to be accelerated by a "slingshot effect" of reconnected field lines, and global ion heating was attributed to thermalization of the sheared Alfvénic flows [9].…”

Anomalous Transport in Current Sheets

“…Such an evolution has been observed in particle simulations of field-reversed plasmas (Winske, 1981;Tanaka and Sato, 1981). However,…”

“…Recent laboratory experiments Stenzel et al, 1983) in fact report observations of anomalous scattering.…”

Comparative experiments of co‐ and counter‐helicity merging in the compact toroid merging device TS‐4

“…Until the 1980s, the experimental studies on magnetic reconnection were focused on simulation of current sheets using discharge electrodes as, for example, in the experiments by Stenzel and Gekelmann conducted at UCLA [1]. In this case, because of the open structure of the magnetic field lines near the boundaries, the experiment could not be made with a high value of magnetic Reynolds numbers, required to maintain correspondingly high temperature and density.…”

“…Since the toroidal plasmas obtained in tokamaks and spheromaks have helical magnetic field lines, these plasmas can merge axisymmetrically and magnetic reconnection takes place; in other words, reattachment of magnetic field lines occurs as a result of the screening current decay on the toroidal surface formed by merging toroidal plasmas. By using merging toroidal plasma with closed screening current and plasma confinement capability, the high thermal energy resulting from the magnetic reconnection is kept inside the tori and can be used in: (1) physical studies of magnetic reconnection and (2) basic studies of high-beta nuclear fusing confinement. So far, by using the TS-3 device (Tokyo University Spherical Torus No.…”