Related papers: Reconnection in a striped pulsar wind
We develop a model of gamma-ray flares of the Crab Nebula resulting from the magnetic reconnection events in highly-magnetized relativistic plasma. We first discuss physical parameters of the Crab nebula and review the theory of pulsar…
We investigate the electromagnetic interaction of a relativistic stellar wind with a planet or a smaller body in orbit around the star. This may be relevant to objects orbiting a pulsar, such as PSR B1257+12 and PSR B1620-26 that are…
We consider magnetospheric structure of rotating neutron stars with internally twisted axisymmetric magnetic fields. The twist-induced and rotation-induced toroidal magnetic fields align/counter-align in different hemispheres. Using…
Nearby pulsar wind nebulae exhibit complex morphological features: jets, torus, arcs and knots. These structures are well captured and understood in the scope of global magnetohydrodynamic models. However, the origin of knots in the inner…
The violent disruption of the coronal magnetic field is often observed to be restricted to the low corona, appearing as a confined eruption. The possible causes of the confinement remain elusive. Here, we model the eruption of a magnetic…
The fast solar wind that fills the heliosphere originates from deep within regions of open magnetic field on the Sun called coronal holes. The energy source responsible for accelerating the plasma to high speeds is widely debated, however…
Magnetic flux tubes in the presence of background rotational flows are abundant throughout the solar atmosphere and may act as conduits for MHD waves to transport energy throughout the solar atmosphere. Here we investigate the contribution…
The slow solar wind exhibits strong variability on timescales from minutes to days, likely related to magnetic reconnection processes in the extended solar corona. Higginson2017b presented a numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulation which…
We interpret $\gamma$-ray flares from the Crab Nebula as the signature of turbulence in the pulsar's electromagnetic outflow. Turbulence is triggered upstream by dynamical instability of the wind's oscillating magnetic field, and…
Magnetic reconnection is a leading mechanism for dissipating magnetic energy and accelerating nonthermal particles in Poynting-flux dominated flows. In this letter, we investigate nonthermal particle acceleration during magnetic…
Reconnection is the process by which magnetic fields in a conducting fluid change their topology. This process is essential for understanding a wide variety of astrophysical processes, including stellar and galactic dynamos and…
Intermittent pulsars are part-time radio pulsars. They have higher slow down rate in the on state (radio-loud) than in the off state (radio-quiet). This gives the evidence that particle wind may play an important role in pulsar spindown.…
Magnetic reconnection, the rearrangement of magnetic field topology, is a fundamental physical process in magnetized plasma systems all over the universe1,2. Its process is difficult to be directly observed. Coronal structures, such as…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in a laboratory, magnetospheric, solar and astrophysical plasma, whereby magnetic energy is converted into heat, bulk kinetic energy and fast particle energy. Its nature in two dimensions is…
In this paper, by performing a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation, we investigate magnetic reconnection in the downstream of a quasi-perpendicular shock. The shock is nonstationary, and experiences a cyclic reformation. At the…
The nature of three-dimensional reconnection when a twisted flux tube erupts during an eruptive flare or coronal mass ejection is considered. The reconnection has two phases: first of all, 3D "zipper reconnection" propagates along the…
Switchbacks (rotations of the magnetic field) are observed on the Parker Solar Probe. Their evolution, content, and plasma effects are studied in this paper. The solar wind does not receive a net acceleration from switchbacks that it…
When waves damp or amplify on resonant particles in a plasma, the nonresonant particles experience a recoil force that conserves the total momentum between the particles and electromagnetic fields. This force is important to understand, as…
Magnetic field embedded in a perfectly conducting fluid preserves its topology for all time. Although ionized astrophysical objects, like stars and galactic disks, are almost perfectly conducting, they show indications of changes in…
Using a recently developed analytical procedure, we determine the rate of magnetic reconnection in the "standard" model of eruptive solar flares. During the late phase, the neutral line is located near the lower tip of the reconnection…