Related papers: Bipolar Electric Field Signatures of Reconnection …
The kinetic features of secondary magnetic reconnection in a single flux rope undergoing internal kink instability are studied by means of three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. Several signatures of secondary magnetic reconnection…
Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous process in plasma physics, driving rapid and energetic events such as coronal mass ejections. Reconnection between magnetic fields with arbitrary shear can be decomposed into an anti-parallel,…
Magnetic reconnection occurring in collisionless environments is a multi-scale process involving both ion and electron kinetic processes. Because of their small mass, the electron scales are difficult to resolve in numerical and satellite…
Kinetic particle-in-cell simulations are used to identify signatures of the electron diffusion region (EDR) and its surroundings during asymmetric magnetic reconnection. A "shoulder" in the sunward pointing normal electric field (EN > 0) at…
Data from the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission are used to investigate asymmetric magnetic reconnection at the dayside boundary between the Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind (the magnetopause). High-resolution…
The reversibility of the transfer of energy from the magnetic field to the surrounding plasma during magnetic reconnection is examined. Trajectories of test particles in an analytic model of the fields demonstrate that irreversibility is…
We perform two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection for various strengths of the guide field (perpendicular to the reversing field), in magnetically-dominated electron-positron plasmas. Magnetic reconnection…
Magnetic reconnection occurs when two plasmas having co-planar but anti-parallel magnetic fields meet. At the contact point, the field is locally annihilated and the magnetic energy can be released into the surrounding plasma. Theory and…
Magnetic reconnection often initiates abruptly and then rapidly progresses to a nonlinear quasi-steady state. While satellites frequently detect reconnection events, ascertaining whether the system has achieved steady-state or is still…
We explore the role of complex multipolar magnetic fields in determining physical processes near the surface of rotation powered pulsars. We model the actual magnetic field as the sum of global dipolar and star-centered multipolar fields.…
Supermassive binary black holes in galactic centers are potential multimessenger sources in gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation. To find such objects, isolating unique electromagnetic signatures of their accretion flow is key.…
We study the transition between anti-parallel and component collisionless magnetic reconnection with 2D particle-in-cell simulations. The primary finding is that a guide field \approx 0.1 times as strong as the asymptotic reconnecting field…
It is commonly believed that blazar jets are relativistic magnetized plasma outflows from supermassive black holes. One key question is how the jets dissipate magnetic energy to accelerate particles and drive powerful multi-wavelength…
Magneto-electrical measurements were performed on diodes and bulk heterojunction solar cells (BHSCs) to clarify the role of formation of coulombically bound electron-hole (e-h) pairs on the magnetoresistance (MR) response in organic thin…
The results of kinetic simulations of magnetic reconnection in Harris current sheets are analyzed. A range of guide fields is considered to study reconnection in plasmas characterized by different $\beta$ values, $\beta > m_e/m_i$. Both an…
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are a natural outcome of galaxy mergers and should form frequently in galactic nuclei. Sub-parsec binaries can be identified from their bright electromagnetic emission, e.g., Active Galactic Nuclei…
Magnetic holes are plasma structures that trap a large number of particles in a magnetic field that is weaker than the field in its surroundings. The unprecedented high time-resolution observations by NASA's Magnetospheric Multi-Scale (MMS)…
We propose that magnetic reconnection at the heliopause only occurs where the interstellar magnetic field points nearly anti-parallel to the heliospheric field. By using large-scale magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the heliosphere…
Blazars are relativistic magnetized plasma outflows from supermassive black holes that point very close to our line of sight. Their emission is nonthermal dominated and highly variable across the entire electromagnetic spectrum.…
We present auroral evidence for multiple and, most probably, small scale reconnection in the near Earth magnetospheric plasma sheet current layer during auroral activity. Hall currents as the source of upward and downward field-aligned…