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We study Taylor's model of forced magnetic reconnection mediated by plasma hyper-resistivity. This includes both linear and nonlinear regimes of the process. It is shown how the onset of plasmoid instability occurs in the strongly nonlinear regime of forced reconnection.
Global hybrid (electron fluid, kinetic ions) and fully kinetic simulations of the magnetosphere have been used to show surprising interconnection between shocks, turbulence, and magnetic reconnection. In particular, collisionless shocks with their reflected ions that can get upstream before retransmission can generate previously unforeseen phenomena in the post shocked flows: (i) formation of reconnecting current sheets and magnetic islands with sizes up to tens of ion inertial length. (ii) Generation of large scale low frequency electromagnetic waves that are compressed and amplified as they cross the shock. These “wavefronts” maintain their integrity for tens of ion cyclotron times but eventually disrupt and dissipate their energy. (iii) Rippling of the shock front, which can in turn lead to formation of fast collimated jets extending to hundreds of ion inertial lengths downstream of the shock. The jets, which have high dynamical pressure, “stir” the downstream region, creating large scale disturbances such as vortices, sunward flows, and can trigger flux ropes along the magnetopause. This phenomenology closes the loop between shocks, turbulence, and magnetic reconnection in ways previously unrealized. These interconnections appear generic for the collisionless plasmas typical of space and are expected even at planar shocks, although they will also occur at curved shocks as occur at planets or around ejecta.
By means of fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we study whether the proton-to-electron mass ratio m i /m e influences the energy spectrum and underlying acceleration mechanism during magnetic reconnection. While kinetic simulations are critical to studying particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection, a reduced m i /m e is often used to alleviate the demanding computing resources, which leads to artificial scale separation between electron and proton scales. Recent kinetic simulations with high mass ratios have indicated new regimes of reconnection, as electron pressure anisotropy develops in the exhaust region and supports extended current layers. Here, we study whether different m i /m e changes the particle acceleration processes by performing a series of simulations with different mass ratio (m i /m e = 25–400) and guide field strength in a low-β plasma. We find that mass ratio does not strongly influence reconnection rate, magnetic energy conversion, ion internal energy gain, plasma energization processes, ion energy spectra, and the acceleration mechanisms for high-energy ions. Simulations with different mass ratios are different in electron acceleration processes, including electron internal energy gain, electron energy spectrum, and the acceleration efficiencies for high-energy electrons. We find that high-energy electron acceleration becomes less efficient when the mass ratio gets larger because the Fermi -like mechanism associated with particle curvature drift becomes less efficient. These results indicate that when particle curvature drift dominates high-energy particle acceleration, the further the particle kinetic scales are from the magnetic field curvature scales (~d i ), the weaker the acceleration will be.
This report describes the final results from the DOE Grant DE-SC0007168, “Fast Magnetic Reconnection in HED Laser-Produced Plasmas.” The recent generation of laboratory high-energy-density physics facilities has opened significant physics opportunities for experimentally modeling astrophysical plasmas. The goal of this proposal is to use these new tools to study fundamental problems in plasma physics and plasma astrophysics. Fundamental topics in this area involve study of the generation, amplification, and fate of magnetic fields, which are observed to pervade the plasma universe and govern its evolution. This project combined experiments at DOE laser facilities with kinetic plasma simulation to study these processes. The primary original goal of the project was to study magnetic reconnection using a new experimental platform, colliding magnetized laser-produced plasmas. However through a series of fortuitous discoveries, the work broadened out to allow significant advancement on multiple topics in laboratory astrophysics, including magnetic reconnection, Weibel instability, and collisionless shocks.
Simulations have played a critical role in the advancement of our knowledge of magnetic reconnection. However, due to the inherently multiscale nature of reconnection, it is impossible to simulate all physics at all scales. For this reason, a wide range of simulation methods have been crafted to study particular aspects and consequences of magnetic reconnection. This article reviews many of these methods, laying out critical assumptions, numerical techniques, and giving examples of scientific results. Plasma models described include magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), Hall MHD, Hybrid, kinetic particle-in-cell (PIC), kinetic Vlasov, Fluid models with embedded PIC, Fluid models with direct feedback from energetic populations, and the Rice Convection Model (RCM).
The heating of electrons in collisionless magnetic reconnection is explored in particle-in-cell simulations with non-zero guide fields so that electrons remain magnetized. In this regime, electric fields parallel to B accelerate particles directly, while those perpendicular to B do so through gradient-B and curvature drifts. The curvature drift drives parallel heating through Fermi reflection, while the gradient B drift changes the perpendicular energy through betatron acceleration. We present simulations in which we evaluate each of these mechanisms in space and time in order to quantify their role in electron heating. For a case with a small guide field (20% of the magnitude of the reconnecting component), the curvature drift is the dominant source of electron heating. However, for a larger guide field (equal to the magnitude of the reconnecting component) electron acceleration by the curvature drift is comparable to that of the parallel electric field. In both cases, the heating by the gradient B drift is negligible in magnitude. It produces net cooling because the conservation of the magnetic moment and the drop of B during reconnection produce a decrease in the perpendicular electron energy. Heating by the curvature drift dominates in the outflow exhausts where bent field lines expand to relax their tension and is therefore distributed over a large area. In contrast, the parallel electric field is localized near X-lines. This suggests that acceleration by parallel electric fields may play a smaller role in large systems where the X-line occupies a vanishing fraction of the system. The curvature drift and the parallel electric field dominate the dynamics and drive parallel heating. A consequence is that the electron energy spectrum becomes extremely anisotropic at late time, which has important implications for quantifying the limits of electron acceleration due to synchrotron emission. An upper limit on electron energy gain that is substantially higher than earlier estimates is obtained by balancing reconnection drive with radiative loss.
We present a study of collisionless magnetic reconnection within the framework of full two-fluid MHD for a completely ionized hydrogen plasma, retaining the effects of the Hall current, electron pressure and electron inertia. We performed 2.5D simulations using a pseudo-spectral code with no dissipative effects. We check that the ideal invariants of the problem are conserved down to round-off errors. Our numerical results confirm that the change in the topology of the magnetic field lines is exclusively due to the presence of electron inertia. The computed reconnection rates remain a fair fraction of the Alfvén velocity, which therefore qualifies as fast reconnection.
The linear and nonlinear evolution of magnetic reconnection in collisionless high-temperature plasmas with a strong guide field is analyzed on the basis of a two-dimensional gyrofluid model. The linear growth rate of the reconnecting instability is compared to analytical calculations over the whole spectrum of linearly unstable wave numbers. In the strongly unstable regime (large Δ′), the nonlinear evolution of the reconnecting instability is found to undergo two distinctive acceleration phases separated by a stall phase in which the instantaneous growth rate decreases. The first acceleration phase is caused by the formation of strong electric fields close to the X-point due to ion gyration, while the second acceleration phase is driven by the development of an open Petschek-like configuration due to both ion and electron temperature effects. Furthermore, the maximum instantaneous growth rate is found to increase dramatically over its linear value for decreasing diffusion layers. This is a consequence of the fact that the peak instantaneous growth rate becomes weakly dependent on the microscopic plasma parameters if the diffusion region thickness is sufficiently smaller than the equilibrium magnetic field scale length. When this condition is satisfied, the peak reconnection rate asymptotes to a constant value.
The relaxation of field-line tension during magnetic reconnection gives rise to a universal Fermi acceleration process involving the curvature drift of particles. However, the efficiency of this mechanism is limited by the trapping of energetic particles within flux ropes. Using 3D fully kinetic simulations, we demonstrate that the flux-rope kink instability leads to strong field-line chaos in weak-guide-field regimes where the Fermi mechanism is most efficient, thus allowing particles to transport out of flux ropes and undergo further acceleration. As a consequence, both ions and electrons develop clear power-law energy spectra that contain a significant fraction of the released energy. The low-energy bounds are determined by the injection physics, while the high-energy cutoffs are limited only by the system size. Furthermore, these results have strong relevance to observations of nonthermal particle acceleration in space and astrophysics.
Magnetic reconnection in quasi-parallel shocks, relevant to the Earth’s bow shock, is studied by means of two-dimensional full particle-in-cell simulations. As the Alfvénic Mach number increases, the propagation direction of the waves excited in the transition region changes, and the shock becomes more turbulent with more reconnection sites. In the higher Mach number shock, abundant electron-only reconnection sites are generated with scales on the order of the ion skin depth or less. Non-reconnecting current sheets can also generate electron jets and energy dissipation can occur there as well. However, non-reconnecting current sheets with the magnetic field reversal typically show a smaller energy dissipation rate than reconnecting current sheets. In the shock transition region, two types of waves are responsible for driving reconnection: one has a wavelength around three ion skin depths (d i ), and the other has a wavelength less than 1 d i . Here, electron and ion distribution functions show that in regions where the former type of waves is excited, there are two ion beams and a single-peaked electron distribution. In contrast, in regions where the latter type of waves is excited, there are multiple electron and ion beams. The waves propagating obliquely to the magnetic field bend the magnetic field lines, and magnetic reconnection occurs where oppositely directed field lines come into contact.
We describe a versatile pulsed-power driven platform for magnetic reconnection experiments, based on exploding wire arrays driven in parallel [Suttle, L. G. et al. PRL, 116, 225001]. This platform produces inherently magnetised plasma flows for the duration of the generator current pulse (250 ns), resulting in a long-lasting reconnection layer. The layer exists for long enough to allow evolution of complex processes such as plasmoid formation and movement to be diagnosed by a suite of high spatial and temporal resolution laser-based diagnostics. We can access a wide range of magnetic reconnection regimes by changing the wire material or moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays. We present results with aluminium and carbon wires, in which the parameters of the inflows and the layer which forms are significantly different. By moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays, we change how strongly the inflows are driven. This enables us to study both symmetric reconnection in a range of different regimes, and asymmetric reconnection.
We describe a versatile pulsed-power driven platform for magnetic reconnection experiments, based on the exploding wire arrays driven in parallel [Suttle et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 225001 (2016)]. This platform produces inherently magnetised plasma flows for the duration of the generator current pulse (250 ns), resulting in a long-lasting reconnection layer. The layer exists for long enough to allow the evolution of complex processes such as plasmoid formation and movement to be diagnosed by a suite of high spatial and temporal resolution laser-based diagnostics. We can access a wide range of magnetic reconnection regimes by changing the wire material or moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays. We present results with aluminium and carbon wires, in which the parameters of the inflows and the layer that forms are significantly different. By moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays, we change how strongly the inflows are driven. This enables us to study both symmetric reconnection in a range of different regimes and asymmetric reconnection.
The goals of this project were to investigate magnetic field evolution during 3D magnetic reconnection; begin development of an open source Python package for plasma research and education; advise students on research projects related to magnetic reconnection; and organize a conference session on diversity, equity, and inclusion in plasma physics. The principal investigator advanced an analytical theory to describe the ideal and non-ideal motion of the magnetic field lines that connect two magnetic null points; led development of the PlasmaPy package through version 0.2.0; directly advised two students; and is co-organizing a town hall on diversity, equity, and inclusion at a major plasma physics conference.
We have clarified the structure of asymmetric magnetic reconnection in detail as the result of the spontaneous evolutionary process. The asymmetry is imposed as ratio k of the magnetic field strength in both sides of the initial current sheet (CS) in the isothermal equilibrium. The MHD simulation is carried out by the HLLD code for the long-term temporal evolution with very high spatial resolution. The resultant structure is drastically different from the symmetric case (e.g., the Petschek model) even for slight asymmetry k = 2. (1) The velocity distribution in the reconnection jet clearly shows a two-layered structure, i.e., the high-speed sub-layer in which the flow is almost field aligned and the acceleration sub-layer. (2) Higher beta side (HBS) plasma is caught in a lower beta side plasmoid. This suggests a new plasma mixing process in the reconnection events. (3) A new large strong fast shock in front of the plasmoid forms in the HBS. This can be a new particle acceleration site in the reconnection system. These critical properties that have not been reported in previous works suggest that we contribute to a better and more detailed knowledge of the reconnection of the standard model for the symmetric magnetic reconnection system.
We study the formation of slow-mode shocks in collisionless magnetic reconnection by using one- and two-dimensional collisionless MHD codes based on the double adiabatic approximation and the Landau closure model. We bridge the gap between the Petschek-type MHD reconnection model accompanied by a pair of slow shocks and the observational evidence of the rare occasion of in-situ slow shock observations. Our results showed that once magnetic reconnection takes place, a firehose-sense (p{sub ∥}>p{sub ⊥}) pressure anisotropy arises in the downstream region, and the generated slow shocks are quite weak comparing with those in an isotropic MHD. In spite of the weakness of the shocks, however, the resultant reconnection rate is 10%–30% higher than that in an isotropic case. This result implies that the slow shock does not necessarily play an important role in the energy conversion in the reconnection system and is consistent with the satellite observation in the Earth's magnetosphere.
Astrophysical plasmas have the remarkable ability to preserve magnetic topology, which inevitably gives rise to the accumulation of magnetic energy within stressed regions including current sheets. This stored energy is often released explosively through the process of magnetic reconnection, which produces a reconfiguration of the magnetic field, along with high-speed flows, thermal heating and nonthermal particle acceleration. Either collisional or kinetic dissipation mechanisms are required to overcome the topological constraints, both of which have been predicted by theory and validated with in situ spacecraft observations or laboratory experiments. However, major challenges remain in understanding magnetic reconnection in large systems, such as the solar corona, where the collisionality is weak and the kinetic scales are vanishingly small in comparison with macroscopic scales. The plasmoid instability or formation of multiple plasmoids in long, reconnecting current sheets is one possible multiscale solution for bridging this vast range of scales, and new laboratory experiments are poised to study these regimes. In conjunction with these efforts, we anticipate that the coming era of exascale computing, together with the next generation of observational capabilities, will enable new progress on a range of challenging problems, including the energy build-up and onset of reconnection, partially ionized regimes, the influence of magnetic turbulence and particle acceleration.
The onset of magnetic reconnection in space, astrophysical and laboratory plasmas is reviewed discussing results from theory, numerical simulations and observations. After a brief introduction on magnetic reconnection and approach to the question of onset, in this paper we first discuss recent theoretical models and numerical simulations, followed by observations of reconnection and its effects in space and astrophysical plasmas from satellites and ground-based detectors, as well as measurements of reconnection in laboratory plasma experiments. Mechanisms allowing reconnection spanning from collisional resistivity to kinetic effects as well as partial ionization are described, providing a description valid over a wide range of plasma parameters, and therefore applicable in principle to many different astrophysical and laboratory environments. Finally, we summarize the implications of reconnection onset physics for plasma dynamics throughout the Universe and illustrate how capturing the dynamics correctly is important to understanding particle acceleration. The goal of this review is to give a view on the present status of this topic and future interesting investigations, offering a unified approach.
Here, we introduce observations of large-amplitude (δB/B~ 0.01) oblique whistler wave pulses generated by a spontaneous, 3-D localized magnetic reconnection event in the Caltech jet experiment. The wave pulses are measured more than 50 ion skin depths from the reconnection location by a tetrahedron array of three-axis B-dot probes that mimic the pyramid flight formations of the Cluster and Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission spacecraft. Measurements of background parameters, wave polarization, and wave dispersion confirm that the pulses are whistler modes. These findings demonstrate that localized impulsive reconnection events can generate large-amplitude, oblique whistler wave pulses that propagate far outside the reconnection region. This offers a new pathway for the generation of magnetospheric whistler pulses and may help explain relativistic particle acceleration in phenomena such as solar flares that incorporate 3-D localized impulsive magnetic reconnection.