Related papers: Guide-Field-mediated Multiscale Instabilities in R…
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…
Magnetic reconnection and non-thermal particle distributions associated with current-driven instabilities are investigated by means of resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations combined with relativistic test particle methods. We…
The relaxation of field-line tension during magnetic reconnection gives rise to a universal Fermi acceleration process involving the curvature drift of particles. However, the efficiency of this mechanism is limited by the trapping of…
Many in-situ spacecraft observations have demonstrated that magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail is largely controlled by the pre-reconnection current sheet configuration. One of the most important thin current sheet…
Particle-in-Cell simulations of magnetic reconnection with an H+ current sheet and a mixed background plasma of H+ and O+ ions are completed using physical mass ratios. Four main results are shown. First, the O+ presence slightly decreases…
We present 2D MHD numerical simulations of tearing-unstable current sheets coupled to a population of non-thermal test-particles, in order to address the problem of numerical convergence with respect to grid resolution, numerical method and…
To systematically stress a rotationally symmetric 3D magnetic null point by advecting the opposite footpoints of the spine axis in opposite directions. This stress eventually concentrates in the vicinity of the null point forming a local…
This review discusses the physics of magnetic reconnection, a process in which the magnetic field topology changes and magnetic energy is converted to kinetic energy, in pair plasmas in the relativistic regime. We focus on recent progress…
We present the results of 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations that explore relativistic magnetic reconnection in pair plasma with strong synchrotron cooling and a small mass fraction of non-radiating ions. Our results demonstrate that the…
The motion of Abrikosov vortices in type-II superconductors results in a finite resistance in the presence of an applied electric current. Elimination or reduction of the resistance via immobilization of vortices is the "holy grail" of…
The structure of magnetic reconnection-driven outflows and their dissipation are explored with large-scale, 3-D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Outflow jets resulting from 3-D reconnection with a finite length x-line form fronts as they…
Magnetic reconnection is thought to be the driver for many explosive phenomena in the universe. The energy release and particle acceleration during reconnection have been proposed as a mechanism for producing high-energy emissions and…
Partially-ionized plasmas consist of charged and neutral particles whose mutual collisions modify magnetic reconnection compared with the fully-ionized case. The collisions alter the rate and locations of the magnetic dissipation heating…
Using the three-dimensional relativistic magnetohydrodynamic code RAISHIN, we investigated the influence of radial density profile on the spatial development of the current-driven kink instability along magnetized rotating, relativistic…
Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous process in astrophysical plasmas and an efficient mechanism for particle acceleration. Using 2.5D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with a co-evolving fluid-particle framework, we investigate how…
The coupling state between ions and neutrals in the interstellar medium plays a key role in the dynamics of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, but is challenging to study numerically. In this work, we investigate the damping of MHD…
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…
Instabilities in relativistic magnetized jets are thought to be deeply connected to their energy dissipation properties and to the consequent acceleration of the non-thermal emitting relativistic particles. Instabilities lead to the…
Using fully kinetic 3D simulations, the reconnection dynamics of asymmetric current sheets are examined at the Earth's magnetopause. The plasma parameters are selected to model MMS magnetopause diffusion region crossings with guide fields…
The meeting of astrophysical plasmas and their magnetic fields creates many reconnection sites. We experimentally compare the reconnection rate of laser-driven magnetic reconnection when it takes place at a single site and multiple sites.…