Related papers: Magnetic reconnection: from MHD to QED
The past decade has seen an outstanding development of nonthermal particle acceleration in magnetic reconnection in magnetically-dominated systems, with clear signatures of power-law energy distributions as a common outcome of…
Strong magnetic fields and plasmas are intrinsically linked in both terrestrial laboratory experiments and in space phenomena. One of the most profound consequences of that is the change in relationship between the frequency and the wave…
We present the first three-dimensional fully kinetic electromagnetic relativistic particle-in-cell simulations of the collision of two interpenetrating plasma shells. The highly accurate plasma-kinetic "particle-in-cell" (with the total of…
We investigate electron acceleration resulting from 3D magnetic reconnection between an emerging, twisted magnetic flux rope and a pre-existing weak, open magnetic field. We first follow the rise of an unstable, twisted flux tube with a…
This white paper summarizes major scientific challenges and opportunities in understanding magnetic reconnection and related explosive phenomena as a fundamental plasma process.
Magnetic reconnection (MR) in collisionless plasma is often attributed to the off-diagonal electron Reynolds stress, which can give rise to a large induction electric field in the reconnection region. However, in magneto-hydro-dynamics…
In the single fluid, nonrelativistic, ideal-Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) plasma description magnetic field lines play a fundamental role by defining dynamically preserved "magnetic connections" between plasma elements. Here we show how the…
Magnetic reconnection is a process that converts magnetic energy into plasma energy by changing the magnetic field line topology. The outstanding question is why the reconnection rate is $\mathcal{O}(0.01 - 0.1)$ in many astrophysical…
We performed three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations of magnetic reconnection with multiple magnetic null points. Magnetic field energy conversion into kinetic energy was about five times higher than in traditional Harris sheet…
Intense electromagnetic fields are created in the quark-gluon plasma by the external ultra-relativistic valence charges. The time-evolution and the strength of this field are strongly affected by the electrical conductivity of the plasma.…
Using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we characterize the energy spectra of particles accelerated by relativistic magnetic reconnection (without guide field) in collisionless electron-positron plasmas, for a wide range of…
The use of an external transverse magnetic field to trigger and to control electron self-injection in laser- and particle-beam driven wakefield accelerators is examined analytically and through full-scale particle-in-cell simulations. A…
Magnetic field generation in ultra-intense laser-solid interactions is studied over a range of laser intensities relevant to next-generation laser facilities ($a_0 = 50-500$) using 2D particle-in-cell simulations. It is found that fields on…
We present 2D MHD numerical simulations of tearing-unstable current sheets coupled to a population of non-thermal test-particles, in order to address the problem of numerical convergence with respect to grid resolution, numerical method and…
We investigate magnetic-energy dissipation, current-sheet dynamics, and nonthermal particle acceleration in three-dimensional relativistic reconnection in an electron--ion plasma with a realistic mass ratio. Using particle-in-cell…
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…
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…
Since the invention of chirped pulse amplification, which was recognized by a Nobel prize in physics in 2018, there has been a continuing increase in available laser intensity. Combined with advances in our understanding of the kinetics of…
Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in the Universe. Extragalactic disks, halos and clusters have consistently been shown, via diffuse radio-synchrotron emission and Faraday rotation measurements, to exhibit magnetic field strengths ranging from…
Magnetic reconnection is an important physical process in various explosive phenomena in the universe. In the previous studies, it was found that fast re- connection takes place when the thickness of a current sheet becomes on the order of…