Related papers: Magnetic reconnection: from MHD to QED
Fast $\gamma$-ray variability in blazars remains a central puzzle in high-energy astrophysics, challenging standard shock acceleration models. Blazars, a subclass of active galactic nuclei (AGN) with jets pointed close to our line of sight,…
A scheme to generate magnetized relativistic plasmas in laboratory is proposed. It is based on interaction of ultra-high-intensity sub-picosecond laser pulses with few-micron thick foils or films. By means of Particle-In-Cell simulations it…
We investigate favourable circumstances for fast magnetic reconnection in astrophysical plasmas based on recent results by Rogers et al. (2001). Given that a critical magnetic field structure with antiparallel field lines exists, our…
The interaction of an ultra-intense laser pulse with a near critical density target results in the formation of a plasma channel, a strong azimuthal magnetic field and moving vortices. An application of this is the generation of energetic…
We present results from pulsed-power-driven magnetic reconnection experiments, in which we drove two exploding wire arrays in parallel to produce colliding plasma flows with anti-parallel magnetic fields of 1.2$\pm$0.2 T. The experimental…
The ideal MHD theorem on the conservation of the magnetic connections between plasma elements is generalized to relativistic plasmas in curved spacetime. The connections between plasma elements, which are established by a covariant…
Very strong magnetic fields can arise in non-central heavy-ion collisions at ultrarelativistic energies, which may not decay quickly in a conducting plasma. We carry out relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) simulations to study the…
We develop a first-principles model for the relativistic magnetic reconnection rate in strongly magnetized pair plasmas. By considering the energy budget and required current density near the x-line, we analytically show that in the…
We analyze, using experiments and 3D MHD numerical simulations, the dynamics and radiative properties of a plasma ablated by a laser (1 ns, 10$^{12}$-10$^{13}$ W/cm$^2$) from a solid target, as it expands into a homogeneous, strong magnetic…
Two-dimensional relativistic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of radiative magnetic reconnection in pair plasmas with multiple interacting current sheets are carried out to mimic the dynamics in high-energy astrophysical environments,…
Cosmic sources of gamma-ray radiation in the GeV range are often characterized by violent variability, in particular this concerns blazars, gamma-ray bursts, and the pulsar wind nebula Crab. Such gamma-ray emission requires a very efficient…
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…
The magnetic field in many astrophysical plasmas -- such as the Solar corona and Earth's magnetosphere -- has been shown to have a highly complex, three-dimensional structure. Recent advances in theory and computational simulations have…
Fast reconnection operating in magnetically dominated plasmas is often invoked in models for magnetar giant flares, for magnetic dissipation in pulsar winds, or to explain the gamma-ray flares observed in the Crab nebula, hence its…
Understanding plasma dynamics and nonthermal particle acceleration in 3D magnetic reconnection has been a long-standing challenge. In this paper, we explore these problems by performing large-scale fully kinetic simulations of multi-xline…
By means of fully kinetic simulations, we investigate electron acceleration during magnetic reconnection in a nonrelativistic proton--electron plasma with conditions similar to solar corona and flares. We demonstrate that reconnection leads…
Fast reconnection of magnetic field in turbulent fluids allows magnetic field to change its topology and connections. As a result, the traditional concept of magnetic fields being frozen into the plasma is no longer applicable. The…
The role of MHD turbulence in the cosmic ray acceleration process in a volume with a reconnecting magnetic field is studied by means of Monte Carlo simulations. We performed modelling of proton acceleration with the 3D analytic model of…
We present a detailed study of magnetic reconnection in a quasi-two-dimensional pulsed-power driven laboratory experiment. Oppositely directed magnetic fields $(B=3$ T), advected by supersonic, sub-Alfv\'enic carbon plasma flows…
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,…