Non-linear Waves and Instabilities Leading to Secondary Reconnection in Reconnection Outflows
Space Physics
2018-08-28 v1 Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Plasma Physics
Abstract
Reconnection outflows are regions of intense recent scrutiny, from in situ observations and from simulations. These regions are host to a variety of instabilities and intense energy exchanges, often even superior to the main reconnection site. We report here a number of results drawn from investigation of simulations. First, the outflows are observed to become unstable to drift instabilities. Second, these instabilities lead to the formation of secondary reconnection sites. Third, the secondary processes are responsible for large energy exchanges and particle energization. Finally, the particle distribution function are modified to become non-Maxwellian and include multiple interpenetrating populations.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1808.08612,
title = {Non-linear Waves and Instabilities Leading to Secondary Reconnection in Reconnection Outflows},
author = {Giovanni Lapenta and Francesco Pucci and Vyacheslav Olshevsky and Sergio Servidio and Luca Sorriso-Valvo and David L. Newman and Martin Goldman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1808.08612},
year = {2018}
}