Ion heating and energy balance during magnetic reconnection events in the RFX-mod experiment

Reconnection events in high current reversed field pinch plasmas are often associated to the partial or total transitions from a helical topology with conserved flux surfaces to a configuration characterized by a chaotic magnetic field. The electron temperature dynamic together with the magnetic energy reconstructions are used to evaluate the energy balance during these events and to quantify the associated dissipated power and released energy. A fraction of the energy released during reconnection events is involved in ion heating, as estimated by the energy distribution function of neutral atoms, a rather interesting feature in a reactorial perspective.