A primary objective of the Coordinated Data Analysis Workshop 8 (CDAW 8) was the critical
assessment of the plasmoid hypothesis. In this study, various types of magnetic phenomena,
including closed loops and flux ropes, were considered as candidates for producing the …

The design and construction of a plasmoid thruster prototype is described. This thruster
operates by expelling pre‐detached plasmoids at high velocities. These plasmoids are field
reversed configuration plasmas which are formed by reversing a magnetic flux frozen in an …

The Sweet–Parker layer in a system that exceeds a critical value of the Lundquist number
(S) is unstable to the plasmoid instability. In this paper, a numerical scaling study has been
done with an island coalescing system driven by a low level of random noise. In the early …

A general theory of the onset and development of the plasmoid instability is formulated by
means of a principle of least time. The scaling relations for the final aspect ratio, transition
time to rapid onset, growth rate, and number of plasmoids are derived and shown to depend …

Current sheets formed in magnetic reconnection events are found to be unstable to high-
wavenumber perturbations. The instability is very fast: its maximum growth rate scales as
S1∕ 4vA∕ LCS, where LCS is the length of the sheet, vA the Alfvén speed, and S the …

A detailed numerical study of magnetic reconnection in resistive MHD for very large,
previously inaccessible, Lundquist numbers (10 4≤ S≤ 10 8) is reported. Large-aspect-
ratio Sweet-Parker current sheets are shown to be unstable to super-Alfvénically fast …

As a key to understanding the basic mechanism for fast reconnection in solar flares,
plasmoid-induced-reconnection and fractal reconnection are proposed and examined. We
first briefly summarize recent solar observations that give us hints on the role of plasmoid  …

The energetic electrons and ions embedded in Earthward‐moving plasmoid structures have
been observed. These plasmoids are associated with a rotational local Bz component (bi‐
polar) signature. Energetic electrons are found to be confined in a smaller spatial region …

Plasmoids in the Earth's magnetotail were studied statistically, using low energy particle
(LEP) and magnetic field (MGF) data from the Geotail spacecraft. Their evolution along the
tail axis from XGSM′=− 16 to− 210 RE was investigated with 824 plasmoid events. Their …

A numerical study of magnetic reconnection in the large-Lundquist-number (S), plasmoid-
dominated regime is carried out for S up to 107. The theoretical model of Uzdensky et
al.[Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 235002 (2010)] is confirmed and partially amended. The normalized …