Related papers: Does Magnetic Reconnection Change Topology?
Reconnection is an important process that rules dissipation and diffusion of magnetic energy in plasmas. It is already clear that its rate is enhanced by turbulence, and that reconnection itself may increase its stochasticity, but the main…
This review summarizes the argument for molecular clouds being dominated by turbulence, most likely super-Alfvenic turbulence. Five lines of observational evidence are given: molecular linewidths and line shapes, nonequilibrium chemical…
The rate of magnetic field diffusion plays an essential role in several astrophysical plasma processes. It has been demonstrated that the omnipresent turbulence in astrophysical media induces fast magnetic reconnection, which consequently…
Magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability (MRTI) governs material transport and mixing in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas under the influence of gravity and magnetic fields. While magnetic reconnection is known to occur during MRTI…
The theory of pattern formation in reaction-diffusion systems is extended to the case of a directed network. Due to the structure of the network Laplacian of the scrutinised system, the dispersion relation has both real and imaginary parts,…
We demonstrate the dragging of the magnetic field by the super-Alfvenic shear flows out of the reconnection plane can strongly localize the reconnection x-line in collisionless plasmas, reversing the current direction at the x-line.…
A conceptual model of resistive magnetic reconnection via a stochastic plasmoid chain is proposed. The global reconnection rate is shown to be independent of the Lundquist number. The distribution of fluxes in the plasmoids is shown to be…
We discuss the role of tearing instabilities in magnetic reconnection. In three dimensions this instability leads to the formation of strong Alfvenic waves that remove plasma efficiently from the reconnection layer. As a result the…
Context: Recent satellite measurements in the turbulent magnetosheath of Earth have given evidence of an unusual reconnection mechanism that is driven exclusively by electrons. This newly observed process was called electron-only…
We develop a first-principles model for the relativistic magnetic reconnection rate in strongly magnetized pair plasmas. By considering the energy budget and required current density near the x-line, we analytically show that in the…
Magnetic reconnection in an antiparallel uniform Harris current sheet equilibrium, which is initially perturbed by a region of enhanced resistivity limited in all three dimensions, is investigated through compressible magnetohydrodynamic…
Astrophysical media are turbulent and therefore reconnection should be treated in the presence of pre-existing turbulence. We consider the model of fast magnetic reconnection in Lazarian & Vishniac (1999) which predicts that the rate of…
The relationship between magnetic reconnection and plasma turbulence is investigated using multipoint in-situ measurements from the Cluster spacecraft within a high-speed reconnection jet in the terrestrial magnetotail. We show explicitly…
Magnetic fields without a direction of continuous symmetry have the generic feature that neighboring field lines exponentiate away from each other and become stochastic, hence the ideal constraint of preserving magnetic field line…
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…
A transport-like framework for the study of magnetic reconnection mediated by self-driven turbulence is proposed, based on timescale separation between the reconnection time and the characteristic timescale of the turbulent fluctuations…
We consider fast magnetic reconnection that takes place within turbulent magnetic flux and show that the process results in diffusion of magnetic fields and matter, which we term reconnection diffusion. The process of reconnection diffusion…
Our numerical simulations show that the reconnection of magnetic field becomes fast in the presence of weak turbulence in the way consistent with the Lazarian and Vishniac (1999) model of fast reconnection. We trace particles within our…
Magnetic reconnection, breaking and reorganization of magnetic field topology, is a fundamental process for rapid release of magnetic energy into plasma particles that occurs pervasively throughout the universe. In most natural…
Astrophysical plasmas have the remarkable ability to preserve magnetic topology, which inevitably gives rise to the accumulation of magnetic energy within stressed regions including current sheets. This stored energy is often released…