English

Collisionless reconnection: Mechanism of self-ignition in thin current sheets

Space Physics 2011-05-13 v1 Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Geophysics

Abstract

The spontaneous onset of magnetic reconnection in thin collisionless current sheets is shown to result from a thermal-anisotropy driven magnetic Weibel-mode, generating seed-magnetic field {\sf X}-points in the centre of the current layer.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1004.3992,
  title  = {Collisionless reconnection: Mechanism of self-ignition in thin current sheets},
  author = {R. A. Treumann and R. Nakamura and W. Baumjohann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1004.3992},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

8 pages, 6 figures, prepared for Annales Geophysicae