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Related papers: Reconnection in a Pinch

200 papers

A variety of high-energy astrophysical phenomena are powered by the release -- via magnetic reconnection -- of the energy stored in oppositely directed fields. Single-fluid resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with uniform…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-01-10 Abigail Moran , Lorenzo Sironi , Aviad Levis , Bart Ripperda , Elias R. Most , Sebastiaan Selvi

We investigate the onset of driven collisionless reconnection and plasmoid formation in a magnetically dominated pair plasma, using 2D Particle-in-Cell simulations. Two force-free flux tubes of radius $R$ are initially pushed together with…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2025-12-16 Camille Granier , Daniel Groselj , Luca Comisso , Fabio Bacchini

We present a study of collisionless magnetic reconnection within the framework of full two-fluid MHD for a completely ionized hydrogen plasma, retaining the effects of the Hall current, electron pressure and electron inertia. We performed…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2015-06-18 N. Andrés , L. Martin , P. Dmitruk , D. Gómez

We discuss electron acceleration and heating during collisionless magnetic reconnection by using the results of implicit kinetic simulations of Harris current sheets. We consider and compare electron dynamics in plasmas with different \beta…

Astrophysics · Physics 2009-11-07 Paolo Ricci , Giovanni Lapenta , J. U. Brackbill

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,…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-11-26 Chandan Kumar Das , Bhargav Vaidya , Amit Shukla , Giancarlo Mattia , Karl Mannheim

High-energy astrophysical systems and compact objects are frequently modeled using ideal relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) or force-free electrodynamic (FFE) simulations, with the underlying assumption that the discretisation from the…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-09-25 Michael P. Grehan , Tanisha Ghosal , James R. Beattie , Bart Ripperda , Oliver Porth , Fabio Bacchini

The ubiquitous turbulence in astrophysical plasmas is important for both magnetic reconnection and reconnection acceleration. We study the particle acceleration during fast 3D turbulent reconnection with reconnection-driven turbulence.…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2023-01-11 Siyao Xu , Alex Lazarian

Magnetic reconnection has been observed in the transition region of quasi-parallel shocks. In this work, the particle-in-cell method is used to simulate three-dimensional reconnection in a quasi-parallel shock. The shock transition region…

Space Physics · Physics 2022-09-07 J. Ng , L. -J. Chen , N. Bessho , J. Shuster , B. Burkholder , J. Yoo

Magnetic reconnection -- a fundamental plasma physics process, where magnetic field lines of opposite polarity annihilate -- is invoked in astrophysical plasmas as a powerful mechanism of nonthermal particle acceleration, able to explain…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2025-07-17 Lorenzo Sironi , Dmitri A. Uzdensky , Dimitrios Giannios

A model of global magnetic reconnection rate in relativistic collisionless plasmas is developed and validated by the fully kinetic simulation. Through considering the force balance at the upstream and downstream of the diffusion region, we…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2016-05-19 Yi-Hsin Liu , Michael Hesse , Fan Guo , William Daughton , Hui Li

We review the basic concepts of magnetic reconnection and propose a general framework for the astrophysical reconnection at large scales. Magnetic reconnection is the rearrangement of magnetic field topology. The conventional Sweet-Parker…

High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena · Physics 2018-06-18 Amir Jafari , Ethan Vishniac

Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous fundamental process in space and astrophysical plasmas that rapidly converts magnetic energy into some combination of flow energy, thermal energy, and non-thermal energetic particles. Over the past…

Magnetic reconnection requires, at least locally, a non-ideal plasma response. In collisionless space and astrophysical plasmas, turbulence could permit this instead of the too rare binary collisions. We investigated the influence of…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2016-05-25 Fabien Widmer , Jörg Büchner , Nobumitsu Yokoi

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process in various astrophysical, space, and laboratory environments. Many pieces of evidence for magnetic reconnection have been uncovered. However, its specific processes that could be…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2018-10-24 X. Cheng , Y. Li , L. F. Wan , M. D. Ding , P. F. Chen , J. Zhang , J. J. Liu

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…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-05-20 D. I. Pontin

Realistic models of magnetic reconnection in the solar chromosphere must take into account that the plasma is partially ionized and that plasma conditions within any two magnetic flux bundles undergoing reconnection may not be the same.…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-06-03 Nicholas A. Murphy , Vyacheslav S. Lukin

We study the role of the guide field in relativistic magnetic reconnection in a Harris current sheet of pair ($e^{\pm}$) plasmas, using linear theories and particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Two-dimensional PIC simulations exhibit the…

Astrophysics · Physics 2008-03-28 S. Zenitani , M. Hoshino

In solar flares and other astrophysical systems, a major challenge for solving particle acceleration problem associated with magnetic reconnection is the enormous scale separation between kinetic scales and observed reconnection scale.…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2018-10-08 Xiaocan Li , Fan Guo , Hui Li , Shengtai Li

The outer solar atmosphere, i.e., the corona and the chromosphere, is replete with small energy-release events, which are accompanied by transient brightening and jet-like ejections. These events are considered to be magnetic reconnection…

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics · Physics 2015-10-28 T. Shimizu

Magnetic flux ropes are ubiquitous magnetic structures found in plasmas ranging from astrophysical to laboratory. We employ a newly-developed parallel-kinetic-perpendicular-moment (PKPM) model to simulate the 3D interaction and evolution of…

Plasma Physics · Physics 2026-03-09 Joshua Pawlak , James Juno , Jason M. TenBarge