Related papers: Electron Inertia and Magnetic Reconnection
This paper presents two-fluid simulations of forced magnetic reconnection with finite electron inertia in a collisionless three-dimensional (3D) cube with periodic boundaries in all three directions. Comparisons are made to analogous…
The $2N$-dimensional quantum problem of $N$ particles (e.g. electrons) with interaction $\beta/r^2$ in a two-dimensional parabolic potential $\omega_0$ (e.g. quantum dot) and magnetic field $B$, reduces exactly to solving a…
Electron and proton acceleration in three-dimensional electric and magnetic fields is studied through test particle simulations. The fields are obtained by a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation of magnetic reconnection in slab…
The heating of electrons in collisionless magnetic reconnection is explored in particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations with non-zero guide fields so that electrons remain magnetized. In this regime electric fields parallel to B accelerate…
Magnetic reconnection is an important driver of energetic particles in many astrophysical phenomena. Using kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we explore the impact of three-dimensional reconnection dynamics on the efficiency of…
Relativistic magnetic reconnection is a key mechanism for dissipating magnetic energy and accelerating particles in astrophysics. In the absence of radiative cooling, recent particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations have shown that high-energy…
This paper is the first in a series aimed at understanding the long-term evolution of neutron star magnetic fields. We model the stellar matter as an electrically neutral and lightly ionized plasma composed of three moving particle species:…
We study numerically small-scale reconnection events in kinetic, low-frequency, quasi-2D turbulence (termed kinetic-Alfv\'en turbulence). Using 2D particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that such turbulence generates reconnection…
Motivated by recent observations of "electron-only" magnetic reconnection, without an ion-scale sheet or ion outflows, in both the Earth's magnetosheath and in numerical simulations, we study the formation and reconnection of electron-scale…
We study the role of the Hall current and electron inertia in collisionless magnetic reconnection within the framework of full two-fluid MHD. At spatial scales smaller than the electron inertial length, a topological change of magnetic…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that alters the magnetic field topology and releases magnetic energy. Most numerical simulations and spacecraft observations assume a two-dimensional diffusion region, with the electron…
We investigate the evolution of field line helicity for magnetic fields that connect two boundaries without null points, with emphasis on localized finite-B magnetic reconnection. Total (relative) magnetic helicity is already recognized as…
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…
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…
We study the transition between anti-parallel and component collisionless magnetic reconnection with 2D particle-in-cell simulations. The primary finding is that a guide field \approx 0.1 times as strong as the asymptotic reconnecting field…
The relativistic electron beam (REB) propagation in a plasma is fraught with beam plasma instabilities. The prominent amongst them being the collisionless Weibel destabilization which spatially separates the forward propagating REB and the…
The transport properties of interacting electrons for which the spin degree of freedom is taken into account are numerically studied for small two dimensional diffusive clusters. On-site electron-electron interactions tend to delocalize the…
Magnetic reconnection is an energy conversion process important in many astrophysical contexts including the Earth's magnetosphere, where the process can be investigated in-situ. Here we present the first encounter of a reconnection site by…
Fully kinetic two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to study electron acceleration at high-Mach-number nonrelativistic perpendicular shocks. SNR shocks are mediated by the Weibel instability which is excited because of an…
The interactions between magnetic islands are considered to play an important role in electron acceleration during magnetic reconnection. In this paper, two-dimensional (2-D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations are performed to study…