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VERSION:2.0
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
PRODID:UW-Madison-Physics-Events
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SEQUENCE:0
UID:UW-Physics-Event-3858
DTSTART:20160429T203000Z
DTEND:20160429T213000Z
DTSTAMP:20260317T064723Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20160323T132011Z
LOCATION:2241 Chamberlin Hall (Coffee & Cookies at 3:15pm)
SUMMARY:When Magnetic Field Lines Break\, Physics Department Colloquiu
 m\, Paul Cassak\, West Virginia University
DESCRIPTION:Freshman physics tells us that magnetic field lines are no
 t allowed to have free ends.  However\, counterintuitively\, magnetic 
 field lines are allowed to break!  When this process occurs in high te
 mperature plasmas\, it is called magnetic reconnection.  Rather than s
 imply being a curiosity\, it turns out to be a crucial phenomenon as i
 t facilitates the conversion of magnetic energy into kinetic energy an
 d heat of the surrounding plasmas.  It is the mechanism behind the ene
 rgy release in solar flares and coronal mass ejections\, geomagnetic s
 torms producing aurora\, disruptive events in magnetically confined fu
 sion plasmas\, and in many astrophysical contexts.  Consequently\, und
 erstanding reconnection is a key aspect of both mitigating the harmful
  effects of space weather and the harnessing of essentially renewable 
 energy through fusion.  Studying reconnection was the motivation for t
 he recently-launched NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission.  In
  this talk\, results using theoretical techniques and a number of diff
 erent supercomputer numerical simulations will be shown.  Applications
  to the boundary of the region of influence of Earth’s magnetic fiel
 d (the magnetosphere) and fusion will be discussed.
URL:https://www.physics.wisc.edu/events/?id=3858
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