Related papers: Tearing-mediated reconnection in magnetohydrodynam…
Magnetic reconnection is often considered as the primary particle acceleration mechanism in a magnetized blazar zone environment. The majority of radiation in the reconnection layer comes from plasmoids and their mergers. In particular,…
Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous phenomenon for magnetized plasmas and leads to the rapid reconfiguration of magnetic field lines. During reconnection events, plasma is heated and accelerated until the magnetic field lines enclose and…
A one-dimensional model for thinning of the Earth's plasma sheet [J. K. Chao et al., Planet. Space Sci. 25, 703 (1977)] according to the Current Disruption (CD) model of auroral breakup is extended to two dimensions. A rarefaction wave,…
Fast magnetic reconnection powers explosive events throughout the universe, from gamma-ray bursts to solar flares. Despite its importance, the onset of astrophysical fast reconnection is the subject of intense debate and remains an open…
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…
Combined tearing-thermal evolution plays an important role in the disruption of current sheets, and formation of cool condensations within the solar atmosphere. However, this has received limited attention to date. We numerically explore a…
We present the results of 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of relativistic magnetic reconnection (RMR) in electron-positron plasma, including the dynamical influence of the synchrotron radiation process, and integrating the observable…
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…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental mechanism of driving eruptive phenomena of different scales and may be coupled with turbulence as suggested by recent remote-sensing and in-situ observations. However, the specific physics behind the…
We study magnetic reconnection events in a turbulent plasma within the two-fluid theory. By identifying the diffusive regions, we measure the reconnection rates as function of the conductivity and current sheet thickness. We have found that…
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…
Magnetic reconnection, the rearrangement of magnetic field topology, is a fundamental physical process in magnetized plasma systems all over the universe1,2. Its process is difficult to be directly observed. Coronal structures, such as…
The plasmoid instability in visco-resistive current sheets is analyzed in both the linear and nonlinear regimes. The linear growth rate and the wavenumber are found to scale as $S^{1/4} {\left( {1 + {P_m}} \right)}^{-5/8}$ and $S^{3/8}…
Magnetic shear across the polarity inversion line (PIL) plays an important role in the explosive nature of reconnection onset and in the equilibration of current sheets, acting as a source of free energy that can enhance or inhibit the…
Astrophysical current layers, e.g., in pulsar winds, can be electrically charged, while the plasma is charge-symmetric, $e^\pm$. Using PIC simulations, we investigate dynamics and plasmoid formation (tearing instability) in charged…
Magnetic reconnection occurs when two plasmas having co-planar but anti-parallel magnetic fields meet. At the contact point, the field is locally annihilated and the magnetic energy can be released into the surrounding plasma. Theory and…
A high energy density plasma embedded in a neutral gas is able to launch an outward-propagating nonlinear electrostatic ionization wave that traps energetic electrons. The trapping maintains a strong sheath electric field, enabling rapid…
Magnetic reconnection converts magnetic energy into thermal and kinetic energy in plasma. Among numerous candidate mechanisms, ion acoustic instabilities driven by the relative drift between ions and electrons, or equivalently electric…
We numerically studied magnetic reconnection in a high $\beta$ hydrogen-helium plasma at different altitudes from the photosphere to the upper chromosphere. The time dependent ionization degrees were included to get more realistic…
Particle acceleration and pitch-angle anisotropy resulting from magnetic reconnection are investigated in highly magnetized ion-electron plasmas. By means of fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that magnetic…