Related papers: Anomalous Heating and Plasmoid Formation in a Driv…
Magnetic reconnection is thought to be the driver for many explosive phenomena in the universe. The energy release and particle acceleration during reconnection have been proposed as a mechanism for producing high-energy emissions and…
Magnetic reconnection has been intensively studied in fully ionized plasmas. However, plasmas are often partially ionized in astrophysical environments. The interactions between the neutral particles and ionized plasmas might strongly…
The plasma in low-luminosity accretion flows, such as the one around the black hole at the center of M87 or Sgr A* at our Galactic Center, is expected to be collisioness and two-temperature, with protons hotter than electrons. Here,…
Magnetized turbulence and magnetic reconnection are often invoked to explain the nonthermal emission observed from a wide variety of astrophysical sources. By means of fully-kinetic 2D and 3D PIC simulations, we investigate the interplay…
Magnetic reconnection and associated heating of ions and electrons in strongly magnetised, weakly collisional plasmas are studied by means of gyrokinetic simulations. It is shown that an appreciable amount of the released magnetic energy is…
We present two-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of line-tied asymmetric magnetic reconnection in the context of solar flare and coronal mass ejection current sheets. The reconnection process is made asymmetric along the…
Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous astrophysical process that rapidly converts magnetic energy into some combination of plasma flow energy, thermal energy, and non-thermal energetic particles, including energetic electrons. Various…
The paper examines the prospects of using laser plasmas for studying novel regimes of the magnetic field line reconnection and charged particle acceleration. Basic features of plasma dynamics in the three-dimensional configurations relevant…
This work presents a more detailed analysis of the process of magnetic reconnection as promising ion beam accelerator mechanism with possible applications in laboratory plasmas and, more importantly, in the plasma propulsion field. In a…
Magnetic energy around compact objects often dominates over plasma rest mass, and its dissipation can power the object luminosity. We describe a dissipation mechanism which works faster than magnetic reconnection. The mechanism involves two…
We simulate magnetic reconnection in electron-positron (pair) plasma using a collisionless two-fluid model with isotropic pressure. In this model the resistive, Hall, and electrokinetic pressure terms are absent from the curl of Ohm's law,…
In space and astrophysical plasmas, like in planetary magnetospheres, as that of Mercury,energetic electrons are often found near current sheets (CSs), which hints at electron acceleration by magnetic reconnection. Unfortunately, electron…
The meeting of astrophysical plasmas and their magnetic fields creates many reconnection sites. We experimentally compare the reconnection rate of laser-driven magnetic reconnection when it takes place at a single site and multiple sites.…
We report the simultaneous extreme ultraviolet observation of magnetic reconnection inflow and outflow in a flare on 2010 August 18 observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on board the {\it Solar Dynamics Observatory}. We found that…
Electron bulk heating during magnetic reconnection with symmetric inflow conditions is examined using kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The degree of electron heating is well correlated with the inflowing Alfv\'en speed $c_{Ar}$…
Microflares, one of small-scale solar activities, are believed to be caused by magnetic reconnection. Nevertheless, their three-dimensional (3D) magnetic structures, thermodynamic structures, and physical links to the reconnection have been…
In a new divertor simulator, an ultra-cold (Te<1 eV) high density recombining magnetized laboratory plasma is studied using probes, spectroscopic measurements, and ultra-fast imaging of spontaneous emission. The Mistral-B device consists in…
Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized (low-beta), weakly collisional plasmas is investigated using a novel fluid-kinetic model [Zocco & Schekochihin, Phys. Plasmas 18, 102309 (2011)] which retains non-isothermal electron kinetics. It…
Experiments with interacting high-velocity flows of laser plasma can help answer the fundamental questions in plasma physics and improve the understanding of the mechanisms behind astrophysical phenomena, such as formation of collisionless…
Hot collisionless accretion flows, such as the one in Sgr A$^{*}$ at our Galactic center, provide a unique setting for the investigation of magnetic reconnection. Here, protons are non-relativistic while electrons can be ultra-relativistic.…