Related papers: Effective resistivity in relativistic collisionles…
We describe magnetic reconnection experiments using a new, pulsed-power driven experimental platform in which the inflows are super-sonic but sub-Alfv\'enic.The intrinsically magnetised plasma flows are long lasting, producing a…
We perform extensive 2D Particle-In-Cell (PIC) electromagnetic simulations of low pressure Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) discharges with various coil current and driving frequencies. Our simulations show that in low-frequency cases,…
Relativistic magnetic reconnection is a key mechanism for dissipating magnetic energy and accelerating particles in astrophysics. In the absence of radiative cooling, recent particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations have shown that high-energy…
Magnetic reconnection is prevalent in magnetized plasmas in space and laboratories. Despite significant investigations on reconnection in electron-ion plasmas, studies of reconnection in magnetized plasmas with negatively charged dust…
Hybrid-Vlasov-Maxwell simulations of magnetized plasma turbulence including non-linear electron-inertia effects in a generalized Ohm's law are presented. When fluctuation energy is injected on scales sufficiently close to ion-kinetic…
Magnetic reconnection and non-thermal particle distributions associated with current-driven instabilities are investigated by means of resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations combined with relativistic test particle methods. We…
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 formulate axion magnetohydrodynamics beyond the ideal limit, retaining axion inertia and the essential physics of non-ideal plasmas from first principles. In this framework, regions where magnetic flux freezing breaks down acquire a new…
We describe a versatile pulsed-power driven platform for magnetic reconnection experiments, based on exploding wire arrays driven in parallel [Suttle, L. G. et al. PRL, 116, 225001]. This platform produces inherently magnetised plasma flows…
Magnetic reconnection is invoked as an efficient particle accelerator in a variety of astrophysical sources of non-thermal high-energy radiation. With large-scale two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of relativistic reconnection…
The appearance of eruptive space plasma processes, e.g., in eruptive flares as observed in the solar atmosphere, is usually assumed to be caused by magnetic reconnection. The process of magnetic reconnection is often connected with singular…
We analyze particle acceleration in explosive reconnection events in magnetically dominated proton-electron plasmas. Reconnection is driven by large-scale magnetic stresses in interacting current-carrying flux tubes. Our model relies on…
Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized (low-beta), weakly collisional plasmas is investigated using a novel fluid-kinetic model [Zocco & Schekochihin, Phys. Plasmas 18, 102309 (2011)] which retains non-isothermal electron kinetics. It…
A new formulation of the plasma resistivity that arises from the collisional momentum-transfer rate between electrons and ions is presented. The resistivity computed herein is shown to depend not only on the temperature and density but also…
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…
The discovery of rapid synchrotron gamma-ray flares above 100 MeV from the Crab Nebula has attracted new interest in alternative particle acceleration mechanisms in pulsar wind nebulae. Diffuse shock-acceleration fails to explain the flares…
Recent theory has demonstrated a novel physics regime for magnetic reconnection in high-energy-density plasmas where the magnetic field is advected by heat flux via the Nernst effect. Here we elucidate the physics of the electron…
Magnetic reconnection is an important driver of energetic particles in many astrophysical phenomena. Using kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we explore the impact of three-dimensional reconnection dynamics on the efficiency of…
Blobs, or quasi-spherical emission regions containing relativistic particles and magnetic fields, are often assumed ad hoc in emission models of relativistic astrophysical jets, yet their physical origin is still not well understood. Here,…
Relativistic reconnection has been invoked as a mechanism for particle acceleration in numerous astrophysical systems. According to idealised analytical models reconnection produces a bulk relativistic outflow emerging from the reconnection…