Related papers: Fast Reconnection in a Two-Stage Process
Context. Converging flows with strong magnetic fields of different polarity can accelerate particles through magnetic reconnection. If the particle mean free path is longer than the reconnection layer is thick, but much shorter than the…
We present particle-in-cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection in a system (like the magnetopause) with a large density asymmetry across the current layer. In the presence of an ambient component of the magnetic field…
The nonthermal particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection remains a fundamental topic in several astrophysical phenomena, such as solar flares, pulsar wind, magnetars, etc, for more than half a century, and one of the unresolved…
Astrophysical fluids are generally turbulent and this preexisting turbulence must be taken into account for the models of magnetic reconnection which are attepmted to be applied to astrophysical, solar or heliospheric environments. In…
Magnetic reconnection drives a wide range of astrophysical phenomena, including geomagnetic storms, solar flares, and activity in blazars. However, direct measurement of key reconnection observables remains challenging due to the remote and…
Turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical fluids. Therefore it is necessary to study magnetic reconnection in turbulent environments. The model of fast turbulent reconnection proposed in Lazarian & Vishniac 1999 has been successfully tested…
Astrophysical fluids are generically turbulent and this must be taken into account for most transport processes. We discuss how the preexisting turbulence modifies magnetic reconnection and how magnetic reconnection affects the MHD…
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…
The properties of energy transfer in the kinetic range of plasma turbulence have fundamental implications on the turbulent heating of space and astrophysical plasmas. It was recently suggested that magnetic reconnection may be responsible…
A new regime of fast magnetic reconnection with an out-of-plane (guide) magnetic field is reported in which the key role is played by an electron pressure anisotropy described by the Chew-Goldberger-Low gyrotropic equations of state in the…
Processes driven by unsteady reconnection can efficiently accelerate particles in many astrophysical plasmas. An example are the reconnection jet fronts in an outflow region. We present evidence of suprathermal ion acceleration between two…
Classical Sweet-Parker models of reconnection predict that reconnection rates depend inversely on the resistivity, usually parameterized using the dimensionless Lundquist number ($\Lund$). We describe magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations…
Fast magnetic reconnection plays a fundamental role in driving explosive dynamics and heating in the solar chromosphere. The reconnection time scale of traditional models is shortened at the onset of the coalescence instability, which forms…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that converts magnetic energy into bulk flow energy, thermal energy, and nonthermal particle acceleration. Despite its importance, the statistical properties of the turbulent…
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…
Fast magnetic reconnection was observed between magnetized laser-produced plasmas at the National Ignition Facility. Two highly-elongated plasma plumes were produced by tiling two rows of lasers, with magnetic fields generated in each plume…
Hinode observations have revealed intermittent recurrent plasma ejections/jets in the chromosphere. These are interpreted as a result of non-perfectly anti-parallel magnetic reconnection, i.e. component reconnection, between a twisted…
We simulate magnetic reconnection in electron-positron (pair) plasma using a collisionless two-fluid model with isotropic pressure. In this model the resistive, Hall, and electrokinetic pressure terms are absent from the curl of Ohm's law,…
As a key to undertanding the basic mechanism for fast reconnection in solar flares, plasmoid-induced-reconnection and fractal reconnection are proposed and examined. We first briefly summarize recent solar observations that give us hints on…
A new paradigm emerging in the description of magnetic-sensitive radical-ion-pair recombination reactions is presented. This paradigm is founded on the realization that the recombination process of radical-ion pairs is a continuous quantum…