Researchers from the US Department of Energy and Princeton University have developed a new theory of plasma that can help scientists understand the nature and curb the power of solar flares and thermonuclear reactions.
Most of the research on controlled thermonuclear reaction is reduced to the construction of reactors with a “permanent magnetic field,” using powerful magnetic fields, thanks to which controlled synthesis of heavier atomic nuclei from lighter ones occurs. However, the main disadvantage of this method is that the plasma created in the framework of this process in turn creates new magnetic fields, introducing real chaos in the process.
The plasma itself (ionized quasineutral gas) contains charged particles that generate magnetic fields, which in turn can break off the fields already present inside the reactor. This process is called magnetic reconnection and is caused, for example, by the same solar flares (in the video below), bursts of cosmic rays and auroras on Earth. Theories accepted at the moment cannot explain why this reconnection occurs so quickly that it actually violates the laws of known physics.
Magnetic reconnection is the “Achilles heel,” for example, tokamaks (toroidal chambers with magnetic coils). When a re-closure occurs within such reactors, at the point of contact between the magnetic field lines, two-dimensional “magnetic islands” are formed, in which a large amount of field energy is concentrated. The problem is that when the fields created in the reactor change drastically by the plasma, they can destroy the external fields that keep the plasma in the desired state and position, which in turn reduces the power needed to sustain the reaction.
To solve this problem, researchers studied the peculiarity of “instability of plasmoids” - the division of “magnetic islands” into smaller ones. As soon as the “island” begins to divide, “within the framework of a short period of time, plasmoid instability occurs, leading to an increase in the explosive power of the plasmoids.” This in turn causes the magnetic field lines to change rapidly and change direction, as a result of which solar flares and other phenomena occur.
Scientists are still not sure why plasma is divided into these clots, as this defies some laws of physics. However, further work will help researchers develop a way to more effectively predict future solar flares, indiscriminate emissions of gamma rays and other phenomena, the nature of which is still unclear to the end. Perhaps, and more importantly, this study may lead to a better understanding of how magnetic fields are formed in tokamaks using plasma. And if this succeeds, then we will most likely finally be able to solve most of our energy problems.
The article is based on materials .
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