Related papers: Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection in Space Plasm…
Magnetic reconnection is commonly considered as a mechanism of solar (eruptive) flares. A deeper study of this scenario reveals, however, a number of open issues. Among them is the fundamental question, how the magnetic energy is…
Using fully kinetic simulations, we study the scaling of the inflow speed of collisionless magnetic reconnection from the non-relativistic to ultra-relativistic limit. In the anti-parallel configuration, the inflow speed increases with the…
We point out that a conventional construction placed upon observations of accreting black holes, in which their nonthermal X-ray spectra are produced by inverse comptonization in a coronal plasma, suggests that the plasma is marginally…
Magnetic reconnection is thought to be the dynamical mechanism underlying many explosive phenomena observed both in space and in the laboratory, though the question of how fast magnetic reconnection is triggered in such high Lundquist ($S$)…
How energy is converted into thermal energy in weakly collisional and collisionless plasma processes such as magnetic reconnection and plasma turbulence has recently been the subject of intense scrutiny. The pressure-strain interaction has…
Fast magnetic reconnection powers explosive events throughout the universe, from gamma-ray bursts to solar flares. Despite its importance, the onset of astrophysical fast reconnection is the subject of intense debate and remains an open…
Modeling collisionless magnetic reconnection rate is an outstanding challenge in basic plasma physics research. While the seemingly universal rate of an order $\mathcal{O}(0.1)$ is often reported in the low-$\beta$ regime, it is not clear…
Magnetic reconnection occurs ubiquitously in the universe and is often invoked to explain fast energy release and particle acceleration in high-energy astrophysics. The study of relativistic magnetic reconnection in the magnetically…
Astrophysical reconnection takes place in a turbulent medium. The turbulence in most cases is pre-existing, not caused by the reconnection itself. The model of magnetic reconnection in Lazarian & Vishniac (1999) predicts that in the…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that converts magnetic energy into bulk flow energy, thermal energy, and nonthermal particle acceleration. Despite its importance, the statistical properties of the turbulent…
I review a new rapidly growing area of high-energy plasma astrophysics --- radiative magnetic reconnection, i.e., a reconnection regime where radiation reaction influences reconnection dynamics, energetics, and nonthermal particle…
Results are presented of a first study of collisionless magnetic reconnection starting from a recently found exact nonlinear force-free Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium. The initial state has a Harris sheet magnetic field profile in one direction…
Recent experiments have observed magnetic reconnection in high-energy-density, laser-produced plasma bubbles, with reconnection rates observed to be much higher than can be explained by classical theory. Based on fully kinetic particle…
Magnetic-field reconnection is believed to play a fundamental role in magnetized plasma systems throughout the Universe1, including planetary magnetospheres, magnetars and accretion disks around black holes. This letter present extreme…
We consider quasi-stationary two-dimensional magnetic reconnection in a partially ionized incompressible plasma. We find that when the plasma is weakly ionized and the collisions between the ions and the neutral particles are significant,…
Using particle-in-cell simulations that label ions and electrons according to their initial inflow region, we find that during 2D collisionless magnetic reconnection, the bulk flow of the plasma from each inflow side crosses paths with…
Magnetic reconnection in relativistic collisionless plasmas can accelerate particles and power high-energy emission in various astrophysical systems. Whereas most previous studies focused on relativistic reconnection in pair plasmas, less…
We develop a first-principles model for the relativistic magnetic reconnection rate in strongly magnetized pair plasmas. By considering the energy budget and required current density near the x-line, we analytically show that in the…
The collision of magnetic reconnection jets is studied by means of a three dimensional numerical simulation at kinetic scale, in the presence of a strong guide field. We show that turbulence develops due to the jets collision producing…
Forced magnetic reconnection, a reconnection event triggered by external perturbation, should be ubiquitous in the solar corona. Energy released during such cases can be much greater than that which was introduced by the perturbation. It is…