Related papers: Guide-Field-mediated Multiscale Instabilities in R…
The plasma in low-luminosity accretion flows, such as the one around the black hole at the center of M87 or Sgr A* at our Galactic Center, is expected to be collisioness and two-temperature, with protons hotter than electrons. Here,…
We present numerical simulations of the growth and saturation of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a compressible fluid layer with and without a weak magnetic field. In the absence of a magnetic field, the instability generates a single…
Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized (low-beta), weakly collisional plasmas is investigated using a novel fluid-kinetic model [Zocco & Schekochihin, Phys. Plasmas 18, 102309 (2011)] which retains non-isothermal electron kinetics. It…
The formation of a large-scale current sheet is a generic feature of pulsar magnetospheres. If the magnetic axis is misaligned with the star rotation axis, the current sheet is an oscillatory structure filling an equatorial wedge determined…
Magnetic reconnection can power spectacular high-energy astrophysical phenomena by producing non-thermal energy distributions in highly magnetized regions around compact objects. By means of two-dimensional fully kinetic particle-in-cell…
Magnetic reconnection requires, at least locally, a non-ideal plasma response. In collisionless space and astrophysical plasmas, turbulence could permit this instead of the too rare binary collisions. We investigated the influence of…
The origin of cosmic magnetic fields is widely attributed to the amplification of weak seed fields by turbulent dynamos. However, a critical understanding gap remains between the microscopic generation of these seeds and the macroscopic…
This paper shows that magnetic reconnection could be an important heating process in cosmic gases. In any volume where magnetized plasmas collide, the dissipation of magnetic energy via reconnection seems to be unavoidable. Since most…
Particle acceleration and pitch-angle anisotropy resulting from magnetic reconnection are investigated in highly magnetized ion-electron plasmas. By means of fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we demonstrate that magnetic…
We performed three-dimensional Particle-in-Cell simulations of magnetic reconnection with multiple magnetic null points. Magnetic field energy conversion into kinetic energy was about five times higher than in traditional Harris sheet…
Event horizon-scale observations of low-luminosity black hole accretion flows favor magnetically arrested disks, characterized by dynamically important magnetic fields ($\beta\lesssim1$, where $\beta$ is the ratio of plasma thermal pressure…
The appearance of eruptive space plasma processes, e.g., in eruptive flares as observed in the solar atmosphere, is usually assumed to be caused by magnetic reconnection. The process of magnetic reconnection is often connected with singular…
Magnetic reconnection provides the primary source for explosive energy release, plasma heating and particle acceleration in many astrophysical environments. The last years witnessed a revival of interest in the MHD tearing instability as a…
We perform 3D relativistic ideal MHD simulations to study the collisions between high-$\sigma$ (Poynting-flux-dominated) blobs which contain both poloidal and toroidal magnetic field components. This is meant to mimic the interactions…
We propose a mechanism for the fast dissipation of magnetic fields which is effective in a stratified medium where ion motions can be neglected. In such a medium, the field is frozen into the electrons and Hall currents prevail. Although…
The flow of an electrically conducting fluid driven by a traveling magnetic field imposed at the endcaps of a cylindrical annulus is numerically studied. At sufficiently large magnetic Reynolds number, the system undergoes a transition from…
Dwarf Novae and low-mass X-ray binaries are eruptive binary systems comprised of a Roche-lobe overflowing solar-type star and an accreting compact object. Their recurrence time can be explained by a low-accreting phase, the quiescence,…
Many astrophysical sources of high energy emission, such as black hole magnetospheres, superstrongly magnetized neutron stars (magnetars), and probably relativistic jets in Active Galactic Nuclei and Gamma Ray Bursts involve…
We clarify how magnetic reconnection can be derived from magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) equations in a way that is easily understandable to university students. The essential mechanism governing the time evolution of the magnetic field is…
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,…