Related papers: Collisionless reconnection: Mechanism of self-igni…
In thin ($\Delta<$ few $\lambda_i$) collisionless current sheets in a space plasma like the magnetospheric tail or magnetopause current layer, magnetic fields can grow {from thermal fluctuation level by the action of the non-magnetic Weibel…
A mechanism for explosive magnetic reconnection is investigated by analyzing the nonlinear evolution of a collisionless tearing mode in a two-fluid model that includes the effects of electron inertia and temperature. These effects…
Magnetic reconnection requires the violation of the frozen-in condition which ties gyrating charged particles to the magnetic field inhibiting diffusion. Ongoing reconnection has been identified in near-Earth space as being responsible for…
We study in a fully kinetic framework the generation of seed magnetic fields through the Weibel instability driven in an initially unmagnetized plasma by a large-scale shear force. We develop an analytical model that describes the…
Magnetic reconnection can explosively release magnetic energy when opposing magnetic fields merge and annihilate through a current sheet, driving plasma jets and accelerating non-thermal particle populations to high energy, in plasmas…
We propose an analytic approach to the problem of collisionless magnetic reconnection formulated as a process of Alfven eigenmodes' generation and dissipation. Alfven eigenmodes are confined by the current sheet in the same way that quantum…
In a magnetized, collisionless plasma, the magnetic moment of the constituent particles is an adiabatic invariant. An increase in the magnetic-field strength in such a plasma thus leads to an increase in the thermal pressure perpendicular…
We present a model for the spontaneous onset of fast magnetic reconnection in a weakly collisional plasma, such as the solar corona. When a current layer of macroscopic width undergoes collisional (Sweet-Parker) reconnection, a narrow…
Two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations with a realistic mass ratio reveal the generation mechanisms of the out-of-plane magnetic field in magnetic islands/flux ropes during magnetic reconnection. In the absence of an initial guide…
The debate surrounding fast magnetic energy dissipation by magnetic reconnection has remained a fundamental topic in the plasma universe, not only in the Earth's magnetosphere but in astrophysical objects such as pulsar magnetospheres and…
Reconnection of the self-generated magnetic fields in laser-plasma interaction was first investigated experimentally by Nilson {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 255001 (2006)] by shining two laser pulses a distance apart on a solid target…
Collisionless space plasma turbulence can generate reconnecting thin current sheets as suggested by recent results of numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The MMS mission provides the first serious opportunity to check if small…
The head-on collision between electrostatic shocks is studied via multi-dimensional Particle-In-Cell simulations. It is found that the shock velocities drop significantly and a strong magnetic field is generated after the interaction. This…
X-ray activity of Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters may result from the heating of their magnetic corona by direct currents dissipated by magnetic reconnection. We investigate the possibility that X-ray flares and bursts…
The mechanisms that generate "seed" magnetic fields in our Universe and that amplify them throughout cosmic time remain poorly understood. By means of fully-kinetic particle-in-cell simulations of turbulent, initially unmagnetized plasmas,…
The sudden reconnection of a non-force free 2D current layer, embedded in a low-beta plasma, triggered by the onset of an anomalous resistivity, is studied in detail. The resulting behaviour consists of two main phases. Firstly, a transient…
Magnetic field lines are quantum objects carrying one quantum $\Phi_0=2\pi\hbar/e$ of magnetic flux and have finite radius $\lambda_m$. Here we argue that they possess a very specific dynamical interaction. Parallel field lines reject each…
Non-collisional current sheets that form during the nonlinear development of magnetic reconnection are characterized by a small thickness, of the order of the electron skin depth. They can become unstable to the formation of plasmoids,…
Partially-ionized plasmas consist of charged and neutral particles whose mutual collisions modify magnetic reconnection compared with the fully-ionized case. The collisions alter the rate and locations of the magnetic dissipation heating…
We investigate the onset of driven collisionless reconnection and plasmoid formation in a magnetically dominated pair plasma, using 2D Particle-in-Cell simulations. Two force-free flux tubes of radius $R$ are initially pushed together with…