Effect of the initial plasma parameters on the structure of the current sheets developing in two-dimensional magnetic fields with a null line

The effect of the initial plasma parameters on the structure of the plasma of the current sheets that form in two-dimensional magnetic fields with a null line is studied by holographic interferometry. The evolution of the plasma sheets that develop in an initial low-density plasma, where a gas is mainly ionized by a pulse current passing through the plasma and initiating the formation of a current sheet, has been comprehensively studied for the first time. At the early stage of evolution, the spatial structure of such a plasma sheet differs substantially from the classic current sheets forming in a dense plasma. Nevertheless, extended plasma sheets with similar parameters form eventually irrespective of the initial plasma density.