Related papers: Strongly compressible current sheets under gravita…
Magnetic reconnection is best known from observations of the Sun where it causes solar flares. Observations estimate the reconnection rate a small, but non-negligible fraction of the Alfv\'en speed, so-called fast reconnection. Until…
Recent rapid progress in time domain surveys makes it possible to detect various types of explosive transients in the Universe in large numbers, some of which will be gravitationally lensed into multiple images. Although a large number of…
A catastrophe model for the onset of fast magnetic reconnection is presented that suggests why plasma systems with magnetic free energy remain apparently stable for long times and then suddenly release their energy. For a given set of…
The recent observations of Singh et al. (2012) have shown multiple plasma ejections and the intermittent nature of magnetic reconnection in the solar chromosphere, highlighting the need for fast reconnection to occur in highly collisional…
Magnetic reconnection is a complex mechanism that converts magnetic energy into particle kinetic energy and plasma thermal energy in space and astrophysical plasmas. In addition, magnetic reconnection and turbulence appear to be intimately…
Increases of ion fluxes in the keV-MeV range are sometimes observed near the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) during periods when other sources are absent. These resemble solar energetic particle (SEP) events, but the events are weaker and…
We have examined the properties of shock waves in simulations of large scale structure formation for two cosmological scenarios (a SCDM and a LCDM with Omega =1). Large-scale shocks result from accretion onto sheets, filaments and Galaxy…
In this work we consider magnetic reconnection in thin current sheets with both resistive and electron inertia effects. When the current sheet is produced by a primary instability of the internal kink type, the analysis of secondary…
Using a simple two-dimensional, zero-beta model, we explore the manner by which reconnection at a current sheet releases and dissipates free magnetic energy. We find that only a small fraction (3%-11% depending on current sheet size) of the…
The evolution of current sheets in accretion flows undergoing magnetorotational instability (MRI) is examined through two and three dimensional numerical modelling of the resistive MHD equations in global cylindrical geometry. With an…
Magnetic reconnection is a basic plasma process of dramatic rearrangement of magnetic topology, often leading to a violent release of magnetic energy. It is important in magnetic fusion and in space and solar physics --- areas that have so…
Chaos is a phenomenon that occurs in many aspects of contemporary science. In classical dynamics, chaos is defined as a hypersensitivity to initial conditions. The presence of chaos is often unwanted, as it introduces unpredictability,…
The plasmoid instability has revolutionized our understanding of magnetic reconnection in astrophysical environments. By preventing the formation of highly elongated reconnection layers, it is crucial in enabling the rapid energy conversion…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process involving an exchange of magnetic energy to plasma kinetic energy through changes in the magnetic field topology. In many astrophysical plasmas magnetic reconnection plays a key role in…
This paper studies the growth rate of reconnection instabilities in thin current sheets in the presence of both resistivity and viscosity. In a previous paper, Pucci and Velli (2014), it was argued that at sufficiently high Lundquist number…
We present a new model for time evolution of fast magnetic reconnection in free space, which is characterized by self-similarity. Reconnection triggered by locally enhanced resistivity assumed at the center of the current sheet can…
Particles are accelerated to very high, non-thermal energies during explosive energy-release phenomena in space, solar, and astrophysical plasma environments. While it has been established that magnetic reconnection plays an important role…
Turbulence is the most common state of astrophysical flows. In typical astrophysical fluids, turbulence is accompanied by strong magnetic fields, which has a large impact on the dynamics of the turbulent cascade. Recently, there has been a…
We show that it is possible to construct a consistent model describing a current-carrying cosmic string endowed with torsion. The torsion contribution to the gravitational force and geodesics of a test-particle moving around the SCCS are…
The traditional paradigm for magnetic field lines changing connections ignores magnetic field line chaos and requires an extremely large current density, $j_{max}\propto R_m$, flowing in thin sheets of thickness $1/R_m$, where $R_m$ is the…