Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Magnetically Induced Rotating Rayleigh-Taylor Instability
Published on: March 3, 2017
Magnetic reconnection triggering magnetohydrodynamic instabilities during a sawtooth crash in a Tokamak plasma
I T Chapman1, R Scannell, W A Cooper
1EURATOM/CCFE Fusion Association, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 3DB, United Kingdom.
Abstract:
Thomson scattering measurements with subcentimeter spatial resolution have been made during a sawtooth crash in a Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak fusion plasma. The unparalleled resolution of the temperature profile has shed new light on the mechanisms that underlie the sawtooth. As magnetic reconnection occurs, the temperature gradient at the island boundary increases. The increased local temperature gradient is sufficient to make the helical core unstable to ideal magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, thought to be responsible for the rapidity of the collapse.
Related Concept Videos
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
Potential Due to a Magnetized Object
The vector...
Magnetic Damping
If, however, the bob is a slotted metal plate, the magnet produces a much smaller effect. When a slotted metal plate enters the field, an emf is induced by the change in flux; however, it is less effective because the slots limit the...
Torque On A Current Loop In A Magnetic Field
Consider a rectangular current-carrying loop containing N turns of wire, placed in a uniform magnetic field. The net force on a current-carrying loop...
Magnetic Force Between Two Parallel Currents
The force exerted by the magnetic field due to the first conductor over a finite length of the second conductor is given as the product of the current in the second conductor and the vector product of the length vector along the current element and the field due to the first conductor. According to the...

