Related papers: Magnetic Reconnection under Anisotropic MHD Approx…
In the absence of frequent binary collisions to isotropize the plasma, the fulfillment of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions by collisionless shocks is not trivial. In particular, the presence of an external…
Relativistic magnetic reconnection is one of the most fundamental mechanisms considered responsible for the acceleration of relativistic particles in astrophysical jets and magnetospheres of compact objects. Understanding the properties of…
We present a study of collisionless magnetic reconnection within the framework of full two-fluid MHD for a completely ionized hydrogen plasma, retaining the effects of the Hall current, electron pressure and electron inertia. We performed…
Classical Sweet-Parker models of reconnection predict that reconnection rates depend inversely on the resistivity, usually parameterized using the dimensionless Lundquist number ($\Lund$). We describe magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations…
We present a constructive numerical example of fast magnetic reconnection in a three dimensional periodic box. Reconnection is initiated by a strong, localized perturbation to the field lines. The solution is intrinsically three…
Solving the problem of fast eruptive events in magnetically dominated astrophysical plasmas requires the use of particularly well adapted numerical tools. Indeed, the central mechanism based on magnetic reconnection is determined by a…
Magnetic reconnection is explored on the Terrestrial Reconnection Experiment (TREX) for asymmetric inflow conditions and in a configuration where the absolute rate of reconnection is set by an external drive. Magnetic pileup enhances the…
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…
Magnetic reconnection with asymmetry in the outflow direction occurs in the Earth's magnetotail, coronal mass ejections, flux cancellation events, astrophysical disks, spheromak merging experiments, and elsewhere in nature and the…
The solar wind and the interstellar medium are permeated by large-scale magnetic fields that render magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence anisotropic. In the weak-turbulence limit in which three-wave interactions dominate, analytical and…
Magnetic switchbacks are localised polarity reversals in the radial component of the heliospheric magnetic field. Observations from Parker Solar Probe (PSP) have shown that they are a prevalent feature of the near-Sun solar wind. However,…
Magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas is a ubiquitous phenomenon spanning the range from laboratory to intergalactic scales, yet it remains poorly understood and relatively little studied. Here, we present results from a…
Magnetic field-lines in astrophysical plasmas are expected to be frozen-in at scales larger than the ion gyroradius. The rapid reconnection of magnetic flux structures with dimensions vastly larger than the gyroradius requires a breakdown…
We investigated the effect of magnetic fields on the collision process between dense molecular cores. We performed three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of collisions between two self-gravitating cores using the Enzo adaptive…
Numerical methods to improve the treatment of magnetic fields in smoothed field magnetohydrodynamics (SPMHD) are developed and tested. Chapter 2 is a review of SPMHD. In Chapter 3, a mixed hyperbolic/parabolic scheme is developed which…
The formation of macroscopic reconnected magnetic structures (islands) have been observed in advanced experiments on weakly collisional, well confined plasmas while established theories of the drift-tearing modes, which depend strongly on…
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…
The main subject of my talk is the question: in what kind of astrophysical systems magnetic reconnection is interesting and/or important? To address this question, I first put forward three general criteria for selecting the relevant…
Magnetic reconnection is the most likely mechanism responsible for the high temperature events that are observed in strongly magnetized locations around the temperature minimum in the low solar chromosphere. This work improves upon our…
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…