Related papers: Dynamics of relativistic reconnection
Using the formulation of relativistic reconnection by Lyutikov & Uzdensky (2002) we estimate the upper possible rates of reconnection in pulsar winds using Bohm prescription for resistivity. We find that the velocity of plasma inflow into…
Magnetic reconnection plays an essential role in the generation and evolution of astrophysical magnetic fields. The best tested and most robust reconnection theory is that of Parker and Sweet. According to this theory, the reconnection rate…
Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized astrophysical plasma environments is believed to be the primary process for fast energy release and particle energization. Currently there is strong interest in relativistic magnetic…
Magnetic reconnection -- a fundamental plasma physics process, where magnetic field lines of opposite polarity annihilate -- is invoked in astrophysical plasmas as a powerful mechanism of nonthermal particle acceleration, able to explain…
Using fully kinetic simulations, we demonstrate that magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasmas is highly efficient at accelerating particles through a first-order Fermi process resulting from the curvature drift of particles in the…
We study the role of turbulence in magnetic reconnection, within the framework of magneto-hydrodynamics, using three-dimensional direct numerical simulations. For small turbulent intensity we find that the reconnection rate obeys…
A general description for relativistic magnetic reconnection is given in terms of asymmetric inflow plasma conditions, such as plasma density, velocity magnetic field strength, and their respective thermal-inertial effects. In this work, we…
We study two dimensional turbulent magnetic reconnection in a compressible fluid in the gas pressure dominated limit. We use open boundary conditions and start from a Harris current sheet configuration with a uniform total pressure. A small…
The magnetic reconnection process is analyzed for relativistic magnetohydrodynamical plasmas around rotating black holes. A simple generalization of the Sweet-Parker model is used as a first approximation to the problem. The reconnection…
We examine the effect of weak, small scale magnetic field structure on the rate of reconnection in a strongly magnetized plasma. This affects the rate of reconnection by reducing the transverse scale for reconnection flows, and by allowing…
It has been established that the Sweet-Parker current layer in high Lundquist number reconnection is unstable to the super-Alfv\'enic plasmoid instability. Past two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations have demonstrated that the…
A numerical study of magnetic reconnection in the large-Lundquist-number ($S$), plasmoid-dominated regime is carried out for $S$ up to $10^7$. The theoretical model of Uzdensky {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 105}, 235002 (2010)] is…
Analytical theory of fast magnetic reconnection with a large guide field is presented for the first time. We confirm that two distinct reconnection regimes are possible depending on whether the diffusion region thickness $\delta$ is larger…
This paper investigates Magnetic Reynolds number dependence of the ``self-similar evolution model'' (Nitta et al. 2001) of fast magnetic reconnection. I focused my attention on the flow structure inside and around the reconnection outflow,…
Magnetic reconnection, especially in the relativistic regime, provides an efficient mechanism for accelerating relativistic particles and thus offers an attractive physical explanation for nonthermal high-energy emission from various…
We present the results of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical numerical simulations of relativistic magnetic reconnection, with particular emphasis on the dynamics of Petschek-type configurations with high Lundquist numbers, S ~…
In magnetized astrophysical outflows, the dissipation of field energy into particle energy via magnetic reconnection is often invoked to explain the observed non-thermal signatures. By means of two- and three-dimensional particle-in-cell…
A detailed numerical study of magnetic reconnection in resistive MHD for very large, previously inaccessible, Lundquist numbers ($10^4\le S\le 10^8$) is reported. Large-aspect-ratio Sweet-Parker current sheets are shown to be unstable to…
We examine the dynamics of turbulent reconnection in 2D and 3D reduced MHD by calculating the effective dissipation due to coupling between small-scale fluctuations and large-scale magnetic fields. Sweet-Parker type balance relations are…
Astrophysical plasmas can have parameters vastly different from the more studied laboratory and space plasmas. In particular, the magnetic fields can be the dominant component of the plasma, with energy-density exceeding the particle…