Related papers: An Alfvenic reconnecting plasmoid thruster
Magnetic reconnection can power bright, rapid flares originating from the inner magnetosphere of accreting black holes. We conduct extremely high resolution ($5376\times2304\times2304$ cells) general-relativistic magnetohydrodynamics…
A new class of strongly excited plasmonic modes that open access to unprecedented Petavolts per meter electromagnetic fields promise wide-ranging, transformative impact. These modes are constituted by large amplitude oscillations of the…
Turbulent high-energy astrophysical systems often feature asymmetric energy injection: for instance, Alfven waves propagating from an accretion disk into its corona. Such systems are "imbalanced": the energy fluxes parallel and…
As a key to undertanding the basic mechanism for fast reconnection in solar flares, plasmoid-induced-reconnection and fractal reconnection are proposed and examined. We first briefly summarize recent solar observations that give us hints on…
A theoretical framework for low-frequency electromagnetic (drift-)kinetic turbulence in a collisionless, multi-species plasma is presented. The result generalises reduced magnetohydrodynamics (RMHD) and kinetic RMHD (Schekochihin et al.…
We present results from the first experimental study of strongly radiatively-cooled magnetic reconnection. Two exploding aluminum wire arrays, driven simultaneously by the Z machine ($I_{max} = 20 \, \text{MA}$, $t_{\text{rise}} = 300 \,…
The kinetic features of plasmoid chain formation and evolution are investigated by two dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations. Magnetic reconnection is initiated in multiple X points by the tearing instability. Plasmoids form and grow in…
Pulsars show irregularities in their pulsed radio emission that originate from propagation effects and the intrinsic activity of the source. In this work, we investigate the role played by magnetic reconnection and the formation of…
Magnetic reconnection, a plasma process converting magnetic energy to particle kinetic energy, is often invoked to explain magnetic energy releases powering high-energy flares in astrophysical sources including pulsar wind nebulae and black…
(abridged) Magnetic reconnection is the topological reconfiguration of the magnetic field in a plasma, accompanied by the violent release of energy and particle acceleration. Reconnection is as ubiquitous as plasmas themselves, with solar…
This research work is part of a PhD project aiming to design a new helicon plasma thruster for cargo space missions, within a collaboration between the School of Aerospace Engineering of La Sapienza University and the ENEA Frascati research…
Energy dissipation in collisionless plasmas is one of the most outstanding open questions in plasma physics. Magnetic reconnection and turbulence are two phenomena that can produce the conditions for energy dissipation. These two phenomena…
A strong quasi-stationary magnetic field is generated in hollow targets with curved internal surface under the action of a relativistically intense picosecond laser pulse. Experimental data evidence formation of quasistationary strongly…
A new path for the generation of a sub-ion scale cascade in collisionless plasma turbulence, triggered by magnetic reconnection, is uncovered by means of high-resolution two-dimensional hybrid-kinetic simulations employing two complementary…
This work presents an analysis of the ion outflow from magnetic reconnection throughout fully kinetic simulations with typical laboratory plasmas values. A symmetric initial configuration for the density and magnetic field is considered…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process involving an exchange of magnetic energy to plasma kinetic energy through changes in the magnetic field topology. In many astrophysical plasmas magnetic reconnection plays a key role in…
We investigate the interaction of a plane, linearly polarized, Alfvenic pulse with a one-dimensional, perpendicular to the magnetic field, plasma density inhomogeneity in the strongly nonlinear regime. Our numerical study of the full MHD…
Magnetic reconnection, or the ability of the magnetic field lines that are frozen in plasma to change their topology, is a fundamental problem of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We briefly examine the problem starting with the well-known…
It is well known that magnetic fields constrain motions of charged particles, impeding the diffusion of charged particles perpendicular to magnetic field direction. This modification of transport processes is of vital importance for a wide…
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…