Speaker
Description
Magnetic reconnection (MR) offers a potential pathway toward high–specific impulse plasma acceleration for advanced electric propulsion. We present ongoing work on an MR-based thruster concept in which multiple flux ropes are generated by hollow cathodes inside a magnetized discharge chamber and guided by a set of coaxial coils. The aim is to exploit kink-unstable dynamics and the associated energy conversion to accelerate plasma.
High-resolution 3D MHD simulations have recently been initiated to analyze flux-rope formation, early nonlinear evolution, and the conditions that may lead to kink instability. The efforts focus on validating the electromagnetic configuration and mapping current channels and magnetic-field gradients.
Initial experimental results from Langmuir probes and retarding potential analyzers are discussed. These findings lay the groundwork for future studies targeting the onset of kink instability and, eventually, MR-driven acceleration.
