9310752 Yamada The proposed laboratory plasma experiment is to analyze magnetic reconnection from both local and global points of view through studies of both microscale layers and global forcing and magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flows. Two force-free spheromak plasmas are prepared with a common axis, parallel toroidal currents, and parallel or anti-parallel toroidal fields in the MRX (magnetic reconnection experiment). A Lundquist number of about 2000 is expected and the plasma will be about 100 ion gyroradii in extent. External coils exert force on the plasmas and alter their large- scale configuration which, in turn, affects reconnection rates and resultant MHD flows. Diagnostics include magnetic and Langmuir probes, spectroscopy, optical tomography, and visualization of flows and topology. The experimental results will most directly affect theories of reconnection in the solar atmosphere and on the basic physics of current sheets, reconnection flows, and non- coplanar MHD shocks. Simulations of MRX experiments will be carried out with three-dimensional resistive MHD codes which are also used for solar, astrophysical, and magnetospheric simulations, thus providing important tests of such codes. ***
