Neutral Current Sheets in Plasmas

Neutral Current Sheets in Plasmas in Space and in the Laboratory.- 1. Introduction.- 2. Production of a Quasisteady Neutral Sheet.- 3. The Neutral Sheet or Petschek Flow?.- 4. Decrease in the Plasma Density near a Neutral Sheet.- 5. Stability of a Neutral Sheet.- Literature Cited.- Hydrodynamic Plasma Flow in a Strong Magnetic Field.- I. Hydrodynamic Plasma Flow in a Strong Magnetic Field in the Absence of Null Lines.- II. Appearance of a (Neutral) Current Sheet during Plasma Motion in the Field of a Plane Magnetic Dipole.- III. Hydrodynamic Plasma Flow near a Current Sheet.- Literature Cited.- Numerical Integration of the MHD Equations near a Magnetic Null Line.- 1. Equations for Two-Dimensional Flow.- 2. Small-Amplitude Waves.- 3. Numerical Integration.- 4. Calculated Results and Discussion.- Literature Cited.- Kinetics of a Neutral Current Sheet.- 1. Equilibrium State.- 2. Stability of a Neutral Current Sheet.- 3. Simple Models for Charged-Particle Acceleration at Neutral Current Sheets.- 4. Model for the Decay of a Current Sheet.- Literature Cited.- Experimental Study of the Conditions for the Appearance of a Neutral Current Sheet in a Plasma: Some Characteristics of the Sheet.- I. Events which Occur as a Plasma Moves in a Magnetic Field with a Null Line.- II. Experimental Apparatus for Studying the Formation of a Current Sheet near a Magnetic Null Line.- III. Current Profile near a Magnetic Null Line; Turbulent Plasma Resistance.- IV. ? Discharge in a Quadrupole Magnetic Field as a Method for Producing a Dense Plasma.- V. Development of a Neutral Current Sheet in a Magnetic Field with a Null Line in a Plasma with a Density n ? 2 • 1014 cm-3.- Summary.- Literature Cited.