Pinch (plasma physics)

For other uses, see Pinch (disambiguation).
Pinch phenomena
Lightning discharge bolts showing electromagnetically pinched plasma filaments
A 1905 study of pinches, where electric lightning was used to create a Z-pinch inside a metal tube.[1]
A current-driven toroidal Z-pinch in a krypton plasma

A pinch (or: Bennett pinch[2] (after Willard Harrison Bennett), electromagnetic pinch,[3] magnetic pinch,[4] pinch effect,[5] or plasma pinch.[6]) is the compression of an electrically conducting filament by magnetic forces, or a device that does such. The conductor is usually a plasma, but could also be a solid or liquid metal. Pinches were the first type of device used for experiments in controlled nuclear fusion power.[7]

Pinches occur naturally in electrical discharges such as lightning bolts,[8] planetary auroras,[9] current sheets,[10] and solar flares.[11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference pollock was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Buneman, O. (1961). "The Bennett Pinch". In Drummond, James E. (ed.). Plasma Physics. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 202. Bibcode:1961plph.conf..202B. LOC 60-12766.
  3. ^ Lee, S. (1983). "Energy balance and the radius of electromagnetically pinched plasma columns". Plasma Physics. 25 (5): 571–576. Bibcode:1983PlPh...25..571L. doi:10.1088/0032-1028/25/5/009.
  4. ^ Schmidt, Helmut (1966). "Formation of a Magnetic Pinch in InSb and the Possibility of Population Inversion in the Pinch". Physical Review. 149 (2): 564–573. Bibcode:1966PhRv..149..564S. doi:10.1103/physrev.149.564.
  5. ^ Severnyi, A. B. (1959). "On the Appearance of Cosmics Rays in the Pinch Effect in Solar Flares". Soviet Astronomy. 3: 887. Bibcode:1959SvA.....3..887S.
  6. ^ Zueva, N. M.; Solov'ev, L. S.; Morozov, A. I. (1976). "Nonlinear instability of plasma pinches". Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters. 23: 256. Bibcode:1976JETPL..23..256Z.
  7. ^ Phillips, James (Winter 1983). "Magnetic Fusion". Los Alamos Science. pp. 64–67.
  8. ^ Rai, J.; Singh, A. K.; Saha, S. K (1973). "Magnetic field within the return stroke channel of lightning". Indian Journal of Radio and Space Physics. 2: 240–242. Bibcode:1973IJRSP...2..240R.
  9. ^ Galperin, Iu. I.; Zelenyi, L. M.; Kuznetsova, M. M. (1986). "Pinching of field-aligned currents as a possible mechanism for the formation of raylike auroral forms". Kosmicheskie Issledovaniia. 24: 865–874. Bibcode:1986KosIs..24..865G.
  10. ^ Syrovatskii, S. I. (1981). "Pinch sheets and reconnection in astrophysics". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. 19: 163–229. Bibcode:1981ARA&A..19..163S. doi:10.1146/annurev.aa.19.090181.001115.
  11. ^ Airapetyan, V. S.; Vikhrev, V. V.; Ivanov, V. V.; Rozanova, G. A. (1990). "Pinch Mechanism of Energy Release of Stellar Flares". Astrophysics. 32 (3): 230–235. Bibcode:1990Ap.....32..230A. doi:10.1007/bf01005504. S2CID 120883355.