Flux rope dynamics in three dimensions

A large 3D data set has been assembled using the relaxation scaling experiment (RSX) device to study the dynamics of flux ropes. In a series of single flux rope experiments, we have measured induced eddy currents inside the plasma that complicate the evolution of a nominally simple current system. It is also likely that the nominal MHD force balance is violated on ion inertial length scales. These phenomena appear irreducibly three dimensional.