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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tian, Yigeng, Leung, Chung Hei, Bose, Arijit, Bandyopadhyay, Riddhi, Shay, Michael A., Matthaeus, William H.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.02704
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Table of Contents:
  • We present magnetohydrodynamic simulations of laser driven plasma outflows propagating along an externally applied poloidal magnetic field, designed to mimic coronal open-field plasma jets. Using the FLASH code with non-ideal terms (resistivity, Biermann battery, and Nernst advection) included, we model a CH target driven by a 3$ω$ (351 nm) beam delivering 5 kJ over 10 ns and a uniform background field $\text{B}_0$ = 0 to 50 T. Under these conditions, the expanding plume develops a central low-density diamagnetic cavity bounded by a high-magnetic-pressure shell. Magnetic flux is advected from the plume center to its edge, and azimuthal diamagnetic currents form that decrease fields inside the cavity and amplify fields outside, producing a radial magnetic-pressure gradient that exerts an inward $\text{J}\times \text{B}$ force and radially confines the flow. We show that the collimation strengthens with increasing applied magnetic field, as stronger fields reduce the plasma $β$ and correspondingly enhance the confining $\text{J}\times \text{B}$ force.