Related papers: Secondary Energization in Compressing Plasmoids du…
Powerful flares from blazars with short ($\sim$ min) variability timescales are challenging for current models of blazar emission. Here, we present a physically motivated ab initio model for blazar flares based on the results of recent…
Relativistic magnetic reconnection studies have focused on symmetric configurations so far, where the upstream plasma has identical properties on each side of the layer. The boundary layer between a relativistic jet and an accretion flow…
When poured into a container, cohesive granular materials form low-density, open granular aggregates. If pressed upon with a ram, these aggregates densify by particle rearrangement. Here we introduce experimental evidence to the effect that…
We investigate magnetic reconnection in systems simultaneously containing asymmetric (anti-parallel) magnetic fields, asymmetric plasma densities and temperatures, and arbitrary in-plane bulk flow of plasma in the upstream regions. Such…
By means of fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we study whether the proton-to-electron mass ratio $m_i/m_e$ influences the energy spectrum and underlying acceleration mechanism during magnetic reconnection. While kinetic…
Weakly collisional and collisionless plasmas are typically far from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), and understanding energy conversion in such systems is a forefront research problem. The standard approach is to investigate changes…
The debate surrounding fast magnetic energy dissipation by magnetic reconnection has remained a fundamental topic in the plasma universe, not only in the Earth's magnetosphere but in astrophysical objects such as pulsar magnetospheres and…
The plasmon-enhanced second harmonic generation in the subwavelength neutral metal cubic nanoparticles is calculated for the first time in the hydrodynamic and cold plasma approximations. The theory is developed that takes into account all…
Turbulent flows in the solar wind, large scale current sheets, multiple current sheets, and shock waves lead to the formation of environments in which a dense network of current sheets is established and sustains "turbulent reconnection".…
Magnetic reconnection regions in space and astrophysics are known as active particle acceleration sites. There is ample evidence showing that energetic particles can take a substantial amount of converted energy during magnetic…
Electron energization by magnetic reconnection has historically been studied in the Lagrangian guiding-center framework. Insights from such studies include that Fermi acceleration in magnetic islands can accelerate electrons to high…
Plasmoid growth is considered to enhance the rate of magnetic reconnection and is frequently used to explain fast mag netic reconnection in highly conductive (collisionless) plasmas. In strongly magnetized plasmas, the long wavelength…
A new concept for generation of thrust for space propulsion is introduced. Energetic thrust is generated in the form of plasmoids (confined plasma in closed magnetic loops) when magnetic helicity (linked magnetic field lines) is injected…
The acceleration of protons and electrons in a reconnecting current sheet (RCS) is simulated with a particle-in-cell (PIC) 2D3V code for the proton-to-electron mass ratio of 100. The electro-magnetic configuration forming the RCS…
Particle energization due to magnetic reconnection is an important unsolved problem for myriad space and astrophysical plasmas. Electron energization in magnetic reconnection has traditionally been examined from a particle, or Lagrangian,…
Theoretical studies of the plasmoid instability generally assume that the reconnecting magnetic fields are symmetric. We relax this assumption by performing two-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the plasmoid…
Using particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we study the evolution of a strongly magnetized plasma slab propagating into a finite density ambient medium. Like previous work, we find that the slab breaks into discrete magnetic pulses. The…
We propose a new particle acceleration mechanism. Electron can be accelerated to relativistic energy within a few electromagnetic wave cycles through the mechanism which is named electromagnetic and magnetic field resonance acceleration…
It has been proposed that particles bouncing between magnetized flows converging in a reconnection region can be accelerated by the first order Fermi mechanism. Analytical considerations of this mechanism have shown that the spectral index…
For realistic values of Lundquist number in tokamak plasmas, the 1/1 magnetic island leads to the formation of secondary thin current sheet, which breaks up into a chain of small magnetic islands, called plasmoids. The role of plasmoid…