Related papers: Composition-asymmetric and sheared relativistic ma…
We investigate the kinetic effects of upstream, magnetic field-aligned, flow shear on anti-parallel magnetic reconnection using 2.5D Particle-In-Cell simulations. Our results demonstrate that flow shear significantly alters the reconnection…
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.…
Magnetic reconnection in relativistic collisionless plasmas can accelerate particles and power high-energy emission in various astrophysical systems. Whereas most previous studies focused on relativistic reconnection in pair plasmas, less…
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…
We present two-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations of line-tied asymmetric magnetic reconnection in the context of solar flare and coronal mass ejection current sheets. The reconnection process is made asymmetric along the…
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…
The scaling of the relativistic reconnection outflow speed is studied in the presence of both shear flows parallel to the reconnecting magnetic fields and guide fields pointing out of the reconnection plane. In nonrelativistic reconnection,…
We conduct a multiparametric study of driven magnetic reconnection relevant to recent experiments on colliding magnetized laser produced plasmas using particle-in-cell simulations. Varying the background plasma density, plasma resistivity,…
Magnetic reconnection is a leading mechanism for magnetic energy conversion and high-energy non-thermal particle production in a variety of high-energy astrophysical objects, including ones with relativistic ion-electron plasmas (e.g.,…
We present results from the first self-consistent multi-fluid simulations of chromospheric magnetic reconnection in a weakly ionized reacting plasma. We simulate two dimensional magnetic reconnection in a Harris current sheet with a…
Magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas is a ubiquitous phenomenon spanning the range from laboratory to intergalactic scales, yet it remains poorly understood and relatively little studied. Here, we present results from a…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process associated with conversion of the embedded magnetic field energy into kinetic and thermal plasma energy, via bulk acceleration and Ohmic dissipation. In many high-energy astrophysical…
Simulations of relativistic plasmas traditionally focus on the dynamics of two-species mixtures of charged particles under the influence of external magnetic fields and those generated by particle currents. However, the extreme conditions…
We present a one-fluid pair plasma magnetohydrodynamical model for asymmetric relativistic magnetic reconnection that incorporates the thermal-inertial effects of the plasma. We find the general scaling relation for the reconnection rate in…
This work presents a more detailed analysis of the process of magnetic reconnection as promising ion beam accelerator mechanism with possible applications in laboratory plasmas and, more importantly, in the plasma propulsion field. In a…
The spontaneous evolution of magnetic reconnection in generalized situations (with thermodynamic asymmetry regarding the current sheet and magnetic shear) is investigated using two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation. We focus on the…
In high-Lundquist-number plasmas, reconnection proceeds via onset of tearing, followed by a nonlinear phase during which plasmoids continuously form, merge, and are ejected from the current sheet (CS). This process is understood in fully…
We perform a theoretical and numerical study of anti-parallel 2D magnetic reconnection with asymmetries in the density and reconnecting magnetic field strength in addition to a bulk flow shear across the reconnection site in the plane of…
This work presents a magnetic reconnection experiment in which the kinetic, magnetic and thermal properties of the plasma each play an important role in the overall energy balance and structure of the generated reconnection layer. Magnetic…
We present Particle-in-Cell simulation results of relativistic shear boundary layers between electron-ion and electron-positron plasmas and discuss their potential applications to astrophysics. Specifically, we find in the case of a fast…