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We show how the conversion of magnetic field energy via magnetic reconnection can progress in a fully three-dimensional, fast, volume-filling regime. An initial configuration representative of many laboratory, space and astrophysical…
Recent experiments have demonstrated magnetic reconnection between colliding plasma plumes, where the reconnecting magnetic fields were self-generated in the plasma by the Biermann battery effect. Using fully kinetic 3-D simulations, we…
The magnetosphere of a rotating pulsar naturally develops a current sheet beyond the light cylinder (LC). Magnetic reconnection in this current sheet inevitably dissipates a nontrivial fraction of the pulsar spin-down power within a few LC…
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…
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…
We provide examples of periodic solutions (in both 2 and 3 dimension) of the Magnetohydrodynamics equations such that the topology of the magnetic lines changes during the evolution. This phenomenon, known as magnetic reconnection, is…
Magnetic reconnection is a complex mechanism that converts magnetic energy into particle kinetic energy and plasma thermal energy in space and astrophysical plasmas. In addition, magnetic reconnection and turbulence appear to be intimately…
Recent fully nonlinear, kinetic three-dimensional simulations of magnetic reconnection [Daughton et al. 2011] evolve structures and exhibit dynamics on multiple scales, in a manner reminiscent of turbulence. These simulations of…
Results of the first validation of large guide field, $B_g / \delta B_0 \gg 1$, gyrokinetic simulations of magnetic reconnection at a fusion and solar corona relevant $\beta_i = 0.01$ and solar wind relevant $\beta_i = 1$ are presented,…
The efficiency of energy conversion during magnetic reconnection is related to the reconnection rate. While the stable reconnection rate has been studied extensively, its growth between the time of reconnection onset and the peak…
The realization of negative refraction in atomic gases requires a strong magnetic response of the atoms. Current proposals for such systems achieve an enhancement of the magnetic response by a suitable laser field configuration, but still…
In a magnetized, collisionless plasma, the magnetic moment of the constituent particles is an adiabatic invariant. An increase in the magnetic-field strength in such a plasma thus leads to an increase in the thermal pressure perpendicular…
Magnetic reconnection is believed to be the driver of many explosive phenomena in Astrophysics, from solar to gamma-ray flares in magnetars and in the Crab nebula. However, reconnection rates from classic MHD models are far too slow to…
This study presents three-dimensional (3D) resistive Hall-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) dynamics at Earth's magnetospheric flanks during northward interplanetary magnetic field periods. By…
Null and X-points are not themselves directly important to magnetic reconnection because distinguishable field lines do not approach them closely. Even in a collision-free plasma, magnetic field lines that approach each other on a scale…
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.…
The aim of this paper is to investigate the properties of magnetic reconnection at a 3D null point, with respect to their dependence on the symmetry of the magnetic field around the null. In particular we examine the rate of flux transport…
We examine the effect of weak, small scale magnetic field structure on the rate of reconnection in a strongly magnetized plasma. This affects the rate of reconnection by reducing the transverse scale for reconnection flows, and by allowing…
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…
Using observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmosphere Imaging Assembly and the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, we present novel measurements of the shear of post-reconnection flare loops (PRFLs) in…