Related papers: A catastrophe model for fast magnetic reconnection…
Magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas is a ubiquitous phenomenon spanning the range from laboratory to intergalactic scales, yet it remains poorly understood and relatively little studied. Here, we present results from a…
Recently, magnetic reconnection, where a relativistically hot plasma is confined by a strong magnetic field, has received great attention in relation to astrophysical objects (e.g., pulsar magnetosphere and magnetar). However, reconnection…
Magnetic reconnection, a plasma process converting magnetic energy to particle kinetic energy, is often invoked to explain magnetic energy releases powering high-energy flares in astrophysical sources including pulsar wind nebulae and black…
Magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas plays a crucial role in a wide range of solar, astrophysical, and laboratory environments. While reconnection in such plasmas is commonly characterized by the ion-neutral coupling strength…
We present a new model for time evolution of fast magnetic reconnection in free space, which is characterized by self-similarity. Reconnection triggered by locally enhanced resistivity assumed at the center of the current sheet can…
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,…
A 2.5-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics simulation analysis of the energy release for three different reconnection regimes is presented. The system under investigation consists in a current-sheet located in a medium with a strong density…
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…
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 drives a wide range of astrophysical plasma phenomena, including solar flares, by converting magnetic energy into plasma energy through changes in magnetic field topology. Petschek reconnection is a magnetohydrodynamic…
Fast reconnection operating in magnetically dominated plasmas is often invoked in models for magnetar giant flares, for magnetic dissipation in pulsar winds, or to explain the gamma-ray flares observed in the Crab nebula, hence its…
Magnetic reconnection, breaking and reorganization of magnetic field topology, is a fundamental process for rapid release of magnetic energy into plasma particles that occurs pervasively throughout the universe. In most natural…
Magnetic reconnection is a process that changes magnetic field topology in highly conducting fluids. Within the standard Sweet-Parker model, this process would be too slow to explain observations (e.g. solar flares). In reality, the process…
Magnetic reconnection is a process that converts magnetic energy into plasma energy by changing the magnetic field line topology. The outstanding question is why the reconnection rate is $\mathcal{O}(0.01 - 0.1)$ in many astrophysical…
The fast rates of magnetic reconnection found in both nature and experiments are important to understand theoretically. Recently, it was demonstrated that two-fluid magnetic reconnection remains fast in the strong guide field regime,…
The magnetic quadrupole structure formation during the interaction of two ultra-short high power laser pulses with a collisionless plasma is demonstrated with 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The subsequent expansion of the…
A conceptual model of resistive magnetic reconnection via a stochastic plasmoid chain is proposed. The global reconnection rate is shown to be independent of the Lundquist number. The distribution of fluxes in the plasmoids is shown to be…
The recent observations of Singh et al. (2012) have shown multiple plasma ejections and the intermittent nature of magnetic reconnection in the solar chromosphere, highlighting the need for fast reconnection to occur in highly collisional…
Magnetic reconnection has been intensively studied in fully ionized plasmas. However, plasmas are often partially ionized in astrophysical environments. The interactions between the neutral particles and ionized plasmas might strongly…
Magnetic reconnection is a sporadic process responsible for energy release in space and laboratory plasmas. It is believed that the tearing mode instability may be responsible for the onset of reconnection in the magnetotail. However, due…