Current sheets during spontaneous reconnection in a current-carrying fusion plasma

An analysis of plasma dynamics during impulsive magnetic reconnection events in the RFX-mod reversed field pinch (RFP) is performed by means of a large set of magnetic in-vessel coils and of an insertable edge probe, equipped with a matrix of electrostatic (Langmuir) and magnetic probes. It is observed that reconnection of field lines, which leads to a global reconfiguration of the magnetic topology (relaxation), is associated with the rapid formation of a strongly localized magnetic perturbation characterized by a main m = 0 periodicity, due to enhanced dynamo modes activity. Soon after its formation, the m = 0 perturbation is observed to move in the toroidal direction and is shown to correspond to a poloidal current sheet, whose existence was predicted by three-dimensional MHD numerical simulations on RFP sustainment through magnetic reconnection processes. A reconstruction of the current density structure associated with the rotating magnetic perturbation is performed by means of the insertable probe, along with an investigation of the large induced modification of electron temperature, density and plasma velocity shear at the edge.