Related papers: Scaling of magnetic reconnection with a limited x-…
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…
Reconnection physics at micro-scales is investigated in an electron magnetohydrodynamics frame. A new process of collapse of the neutral current sheet is demonstrated by means of analytical and numerical solutions. It shows how at scales…
The scaling of the relativistic reconnection outflow speed is studied in the presence of both shear flows parallel to the reconnecting magnetic fields and guide fields pointing out of the reconnection plane. In nonrelativistic reconnection,…
The outflow velocity of jets produced by collisionless magnetic reconnection is shown to be reduced by the ion exhaust temperature in simulations and observations. We derive a scaling relationship for the outflow velocity based on the…
Detailed comparisons are reported between laboratory observations of electron-scale dissipation layers near a reconnecting X-line and direct two-dimensional full-particle simulations. Many experimental features of the electron layers, such…
The recently discovered electron-only reconnection has drawn great interests due to abnormal features like lack of ion outflows and high reconnection rates. Using particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate their physical mechanisms. The…
We derive, and validate numerically, an analytical model for electron-only magnetic reconnection applicable to strongly magnetized plasmas. Our model predicts sub-ion-scale reconnection rates significantly higher than those pertaining to…
The linear and nonlinear evolution of magnetic reconnection in collisionless high-temperature plasmas with a strong guide field is analyzed on the basis of a two-dimensional gyrofluid model. The linear growth rate of the reconnecting…
This paper presents two-fluid simulations of forced magnetic reconnection with finite electron inertia in a collisionless three-dimensional (3D) cube with periodic boundaries in all three directions. Comparisons are made to analogous…
We propose a criterion for identifying the orientation of the X-line when two regions of plasma with arbitrary densities, temperatures, and magnetic fields undergo reconnection. The X-line points in the direction that maximizes the…
Two cases of weakly and strongly stressed X-point collapse were considered. Here descriptors weakly and strongly refer to 20 % and 124 % unidirectional spatial compression of the X-point, respectively. In the weakly stressed case, the…
We present particle-in-cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection in a system (like the magnetopause) with a large density asymmetry across the current layer. In the presence of an ambient component of the magnetic field…
We demonstrate the dragging of the magnetic field by the super-Alfvenic shear flows out of the reconnection plane can strongly localize the reconnection x-line in collisionless plasmas, reversing the current direction at the x-line.…
In order to understand the nature of magnetic reconnection in ``free space'' which is free from any influence of external circumstances, I have studied the structure of spontaneous reconnection outflow using a shock tube approximation. The…
A long-standing problem in magnetic reconnection is to explain why it tends to proceed at or below a normalized rate of 0.1. This article gives a review of observational and numerical evidence for this rate and discusses recent theoretical…
Using 2-dimensional (2D) magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations, we show that Petschek-type magnetic reconnection can be induced using a simple resistivity gradient in the reconnection outflow direction, revealing the key ingredient of…
In laboratory and natural plasmas of practical interest, the spatial scale $\Delta_d$ at which magnetic field lines lose distinguishability differs enormously from the scale $a$ of magnetic reconnection across the field lines. In the solar…
The process of magnetic reconnection when studied in Nature or when modeled in 3D simulations differs in one key way from the standard 2D paradigmatic cartoon: it is accompanied by much fluctuations in the electromagnetic fields and plasma…
The interplay between kinetic and macroscopic scales during magnetic reconnection is investigated using particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic island coalescence in the strongly-magnetized, relativistic pair plasma regime. For large…
Magnetic reconnection in naturally occurring and laboratory settings often begins locally and elongates, or spreads, in the direction perpendicular to the plane of reconnection. Previous work has largely focused on current sheets with a…