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NASA NTRS2009

Physics of Reconnection and MMS Mission

Reconnection is the most important process driving the Earth's magnetosphere. Key to the success of the MMS science plan is the coupling of theory and observation. Determining the kinetic processes occurring in the diffusion region and physical parameters that control the rate of magnetic reconnection are among primary objectives of the MMS mission. Analysis of the role played by particle inertial effects in the diffusion region where the plasma is unmagnetized will be presented. The reconnection electric field in he diffusion region is supported primarily by particle non-gyrotropic effects. At the quasi-steady stage the reconnection electric field serves to accelerate and heat the incoming plasma population to maintain the current flow in the diffusion region the pressure balance. The primary mechanism controlling the dissipation in the vicinity of the reconnection site is incorporated into the fluid description in terms of non-gyrotropic corrections to the. induction and energy equations. The results of kinetic and fluid simulations illustrating the physics of magnetic reconnection will be presented. We will dem~:tistrate that kinetic nongyrotropic effects can significantly alter the global magnetosphere evolution and location of reconnection sites.

Kuznetsova, M. M.↗

DOE OSTI2018

The role of electron heating physics in images and variability of the Galactic Centre black hole Sagittarius A*

The accretion flow around the Galactic Centre black hole Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) is expected to have an electron temperature that is distinct from the ion temperature, due to weak Coulomb coupling in the low-density plasma. We present four two-temperature general relativistic radiative magnetohydrodynamic (GRRMHD) simulations of Sgr A* performed with the code KORAL. These simulations use different electron heating prescriptions, motivated by different models of the underlying plasma microphysics. We compare the Landau-damped turbulent cascade model used in a previous work with a new prescription we introduce based on the results of particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection. With the turbulent heating model, electrons are preferentially heated in the polar outflow, whereas with the reconnection model electrons are heated by nearly the same fraction everywhere in the accretion flow. The spectra of the two models are similar around the submillimetre synchrotron peak, but the models heated by magnetic reconnection produce variability more consistent with the level observed from Sgr A*. All models produce 230 GHz images with distinct black hole shadows which are consistent with the image size measured by the Event Horizon Telescope, but only the turbulent heating produces an anisotropic ‘disc-jet’ structure where the image is dominated by a polar outflow or jet at frequencies below the synchrotron peak. None of our models can reproduce the observed radio spectral slope, the large near-infrared and X-ray flares, or the near-infrared spectral index, all of which suggest non-thermal electrons are needed to fully explain the emission from Sgr A*.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1997

Gamma-Ray Bursts and Relativistic MHD around Coalescing Neutron Stars

In this proposal we performed the first relativistic hydrodynamic simulations of the binary neutron stars near coalescence. Calculations were performed in three spatial dimensions and were supplemented with magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the magnetic reconnection as the neutron star fluid responds to the relativistic forces of the binary. The ultimate goal of the proposed work was to develop a theoretical model for the temporal and spectral evolution of cosmological gamma-ray bursts produced during the magnetic reconnection. This is the first time such hydrodynamic calculations were performed and some surprising results were obtained. The neutrons stars were observed to compress and heat in the simulations. They could even collapse to black holes many orbits before coalescence. The question then arose as to whether this strange phenomenon could power a gamma-ray burst. The bulk of computing effort in this proposal was therefore devoted to an analysis of the implications of this possible new gamma-ray burst paradigm. The initial focus of the work performed under this proposal was therefore to utilize (3+1) dimensional and spherical numerical general relativistic hydrodynamics to study the origin, evolution, and parametric sensitivity of the collapse instability. We derived modified conditions of hydrostatic equilibrium for stars in the curved space of quasi-static orbits. We followed the magnetic field evolution for approximately one orbit (10 msec). The magnetic field energy was observed to exponentiate with an e-folding time of about 1 msec. Thus, the field should build up very quickly to a magnitude such that reconnection and back reaction of the fluid inhibits further growth.

Mathews, Grant J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Electron heat flux dropouts in the solar wind - Evidence for interplanetary magnetic field reconnection?

An examination of ISEE-3 data from 1978 reveal 25 electron heat flux dropout events ranging in duration from 20 min to over 11 hours. The heat flux dropouts are found to occur in association with high plasma densities, low plasma velocities, low ion and electron temperatures, and low magnetic field magnitudes. It is suggested that the heat flux dropout intervals may indicate that the spacecraft is sampling plasma regimes which are magnetically disconnected from the sun and instead are connected to the outer heliosphere at both ends.

Mccomas, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Magnetic structure of the boundary layer

While magnetospheric convection appears to be driven by both magnetic reconnection and the 'viscous' dragging of closed flux tubes acting in varying proportions but with reconnection predominating as a cause, the action of the closed flux tubes of the low latitude boundary layer seems to predominate in driving system 1 field aligned currents and discrete auroras. ISEE boundary layer data for the magnetic shear effects associated with field aligned currents has occasionally shown a reverse draping of boundary layer field lines whose cause may be plasma entry around the cusps, a north-south asymmetry in current flow to the polar regions, or magnetic reconnection at high latitudes. Boundary layer encounter character and distribution asymmetries suggest that the boundary layer and/or plasma mantle may differ substantially at the dawn and dusk sides of the magnetosphere, and that their properties may have seasonal dependencies.

Hones, E. W., Jr.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Unraveling the Complex Behavior of Mrk 421 with Simultaneous X-Ray and VHE Observations during an Extreme Flaring Activity in 2013 April

Here we report on a multiband variability and correlation study of the TeV blazar Mrk 421 during an exceptional flaring activity observed from 2013 April 11 to 19. The study uses, among others, data from GLAST-AGILE Support Program (GASP) of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT), Swift, Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), Fermi Large Area Telescope, Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS), and Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC). The large blazar activity and the 43 hr of simultaneous NuSTAR and MAGIC/VERITAS observations permitted variability studies on 15 minute time bins over three X-ray bands (3–7 keV, 7–30 keV, and 30–80 keV) and three very-high-energy (VHE; >0.1 TeV) gamma-ray bands (0.2–0.4 TeV, 0.4–0.8 TeV, and >0.8 TeV). We detected substantial flux variations on multi-hour and sub-hour timescales in all of the X-ray and VHE gamma-ray bands. The characteristics of the sub-hour flux variations are essentially energy independent, while the multi-hour flux variations can have a strong dependence on the energy of the X-rays and the VHE gamma-rays. The three VHE bands and the three X-ray bands are positively correlated with no time lag, but the strength and characteristics of the correlation change substantially over time and across energy bands. Our findings favor multi-zone scenarios for explaining the achromatic/chromatic variability of the fast/slow components of the light curves, as well as the changes in the flux–flux correlation on day-long timescales. We interpret these results within a magnetic reconnection scenario, where the multi-hour flux variations are dominated by the combined emission from various plasmoids of different sizes and velocities, while the sub-hour flux variations are dominated by the emission from a single small plasmoid moving across the magnetic reconnection layer.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

Particle Energization via Tearing Instability with Global Self-Organization Constraints

The presentation reviews how tearing magnetic reconnection leads to powerful ion energization in reversed field pinch (RFP) plasmas. A mature MHD model for tearing instability has been developed that captures key nonlinear dynamics from the global to intermediate spatial scales. A turbulent cascade is also present that extends to at least the ion gyroradius scale, within which important particle energization mechanisms are anticipated. In summary, Ion heating and acceleration associated with magnetic reconnection from tearing instability is a powerful process in the RFP laboratory plasma (gyro-resonant and stochastic processes are likely candidates to support the observed rapid heating and other features, reconnection-driven electron heating appears weaker or even absent, energetic tail formation for ions and electrons). Global self-organization strongly impacts particle energization (tearing interactions that span to core to edge, global magnetic flux change produces a larger electric field and runaway, correlations in electric and magnetic field fluctuations needed for dynamo feedback, impact of transport processes (which can be quite different for ions and electrons), inhomogeneity on the system scale, e.g., strong edge gradients).

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS2008

The Electron Diffusion Region: Forces and Currents

The dissipation mechanism of magnetic reconnection remains a subject of intense scientific interest. On one hand, one set of recent studies have shown that particle inertia-based processes, which include thermal and bulk inertial effects, provide the reconnection electric field in the diffusion region. On the other hand, a second set of studies emphasizes the role of wave-particle interactions in providing anomalous resistivity in the diffusion region. In this presentation, we present analytical theory results, as well as PIC simulations of guide-field magnetic reconnection. We will show that the thermal electron inertia-based dissipation mechanism, expressed through nongyrotropic electron pressure tensors, remains viable in three dimensions. We will demonstrate the thermal inertia effect through studies of electron distribution functions. Furthermore, we will show that the reconnection electric field provides a transient acceleration on particles traversing the inner reconnection region. This inertia1 effect can be described as a diffusion-like term of the current density, which matches key features of electron distribution functions.

Hesse, Michael↗

NASA NTRS2009

The Electron Diffusion Region: Forces and Currents

The dissipation mechanism of magnetic reconnection remains a subject of intense scientific interest. On one hand, one set of recent studies have shown that particle inertia-based processes, which include thermal and bulk inertial effects, provide the reconnection electric field in the diffusion region. On the other hand, a second set of studies emphasizes the role of wave-particle interactions in providing anomalous resistivity in the diffusion region. In this presentation, we present analytical theory results, as well as PIC simulations of guide-field magnetic reconnection. We will show that the thermal electron inertia-based dissipation mechanism, expressed through nongyrotropic electron pressure tensors, remains viable in three dimensions. We will demonstrate the thermal inertia effect through studies of electron distribution functions. Furthermore, we will show that the reconnection electric field provides a transient acceleration on particles traversing the inner reconnection region. This inertial effect can be described as a diffusion-like term of the current density, which matches key features of electron distribution functions.

Hesse, Michael↗

NASA NTRS2017

Solar Flare Termination Shock and the Synthetic Fe XXI 1354.08 Å Line

Solar flares are one of the most energetic phenomena occurred in the solar system. In the standard solar flare model, a fast mode shock, which is often referred to as the flare termination shock (TS), can exist above the loop-top source of hard X-ray emissions. The existence of the termination shock has been recently related to spectral hardening of flare hard X-ray spectrum at energies > 300 keV. Observations of the Fe XXI 1354.08 Å line during solar flares by the IRIS spacecraft have found significant redshift with >100 km/s, which is consistent with a reconnection downflow. The ability to identify such a redshift by IRIS is made possible by IRIS's high time resolution, high spatial resolution, high sensitivity and cadence spectral observations. The ability to identify such a redshift by IRIS suggests that one may be able to use IRIS observations to identify flare termination shocks. Using a MHD simulation to model magnetic reconnection of a solar flare and assuming the existence of a TS in the downflow of the reconnection plasma, we model the synthetic emission of the Fe XXI 1354.08 Å line in this work. We show that the existence of the TS in the solar flare may manifest itself from the Fe XXI 1354.08 Å line.Plain Language SummaryA solar flare is a brief eruption of intense high-energy radiation from the sun's surface, associated with sunspots and causing electromagnetic disturbances on the earth, as with radio frequency communications and power line transmissions. The standard solar flare model proposes that magnetic reconnection drives solar flares and fast mode shock, which is often referred to as the flare termination shock (TS), can exist at the reconnection outflows. The existence of the termination shock has been recently related to spectral hardening of flare hard X-ray spectrum.

Guo, Lijia↗

DOE OSTI2015

A MODEL FOR THE ELECTRICALLY CHARGED CURRENT SHEET OF A PULSAR

Global-scale solutions for the magnetosphere of a pulsar consist of a region of low-lying, closed magnetic field near the star, bounded by opposite-polarity regions of open magnetic field along which the pulsar wind flows into space. Separating these open-field regions is a magnetic discontinuity—an electric current sheet—consisting of generally nonneutral plasma. We have developed a self-consistent model for the internal equilibrium structure of the sheet by generalizing the charge-neutral Vlasov/Maxwell equilibria of Harris and Hoh to allow for net electric charge. The resulting equations for the electromagnetic field are solved analytically and numerically. Our results show that the internal thermal pressure needed to establish equilibrium force balance, and the associated effective current-sheet thickness and magnetization, can differ by orders of magnitude from the Harris/Hoh charge-neutral limit. The new model provides a starting point for kinetic or fluid investigations of instabilities that can cause magnetic reconnection and flaring in pulsar magnetospheres.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Runaway electrons and ITER

The potential for damage, the magnitude of the extrapolation, and the importance of the atypical—incidents that occur once in a thousand shots—make theory and simulation essential for ensuring that relativistic runaway electrons will not prevent ITER from achieving its mission. Most of the theoretical literature on electron runaway assumes magnetic surfaces exist. ITER planning for the avoidance of halo and runaway currents is focused on massive gas or shattered-pellet injection of impurities. In simulations of experiments, such injections lead to a rapid large-scale magnetic-surface breakup. Surface breakup, which is a magnetic reconnection, can occur on a quasi-ideal Alfvénic time scale when the resistance is sufficiently small. Nevertheless, the removal of the bulk of the poloidal flux, as in halo-current mitigation, is on a resistive time scale. The acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies requires the confinement of some tubes of magnetic flux within the plasma and a resistive time scale. The interpretation of experiments on existing tokamaks and their extrapolation to ITER should carefully distinguish confined versus unconfined magnetic field lines and quasi-ideal versus resistive evolution. The separation of quasi-ideal from resistive evolution is extremely challenging numerically, but is greatly simplified by constraints of Maxwell’s equations, and in particular those associated with magnetic helicity. Thus, the physics of electron runaway along confined magnetic field lines is clarified by relations among the poloidal flux change required for an e-fold in the number of electrons, the energy distribution of the relativistic electrons, and the number of relativistic electron strikes that can be expected in a single disruption event.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

Reconnection and particle acceleration in three-dimensional current sheet evolution in moderately magnetized astrophysical pair plasma

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 hole jets. Reconnection is usually seen as the (essentially two-dimensional) nonlinear evolution of the tearing instability disrupting a thin current sheet. To test how this process operates in three dimensions, we conduct a comprehensive particle-in-cell simulation study comparing two- and three-dimensional evolution of long, thin current sheets in moderately magnetized, collisionless, relativistically hot electron–positron plasma, and find dramatic differences. We first systematically characterize this process in two dimensions, where classic, hierarchical plasmoid-chain reconnection determines energy release, and explore a wide range of initial configurations, guide magnetic field strengths and system sizes. We then show that three-dimensional (3-D) simulations of similar configurations exhibit a diversity of behaviours, including some where energy release is determined by the nonlinear relativistic drift-kink instability. Thus, 3-D current sheet evolution is not always fundamentally classical reconnection with perturbing 3-D effects but, rather, a complex interplay of multiple linear and nonlinear instabilities whose relative importance depends sensitively on the ambient plasma, minor configuration details and even stochastic events. It often yields slower but longer-lasting and ultimately greater magnetic energy release than in two dimensions. Intriguingly, non-thermal particle acceleration is astonishingly robust, depending on the upstream magnetization and guide field, but otherwise yielding similar particle energy spectra in two and three dimensions. Although the variety of underlying current sheet behaviours is interesting, the similarities in overall energy release and particle spectra may be more remarkable.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2015

The Composition of GRB Jets and the ICMART Model

Models of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) are drawn from observations of light curves, spectra, and spectral evolution. The ICMART (Internal Collision-induced MAgnetic Reconnection & Turbulence) model and some of its features are presented. Increasing evidence points towards Poynting-flux-dominated jets in at least some (even a good fraction of) GRBs. The main emission component (Band) is of a synchrotron emission origin, produced by electrons accelerated in the emission region. The data seem to require that magnetic reconnection in the moderately-high sigma regime is the mechanism to accelerate particles. Extensive numerical simulations are needed to verify physical details of such a model, and some encouraging results have been obtained.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Striped Jets in Post–Neutron Star Merger Systems

Abstract Models invoking magnetic reconnection as the particle acceleration mechanism within relativistic jets often adopt a gradual energy dissipation profile within the jet. However, such a profile has yet to be reproduced in first-principles simulations. Here we perform a suite of 3D general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of post–neutron star merger disks with an initially purely toroidal magnetic field. We explore the variations in both the microphysics (e.g., nuclear recombination, neutrino emission) and system parameters (e.g, disk mass). In all of our simulations, we find the formation of magnetically striped jets. The stripes result from the reversals in the poloidal magnetic flux polarity generated in the accretion disk. The simulations display large variations in the distributions of stripe duration, τ , and power, 〈 P Φ 〉. We find that more massive disks produce more powerful stripes, the most powerful of which reaches 〈 P Φ 〉 ∼ 10 49 erg s −1 at τ ∼ 20 ms. The power and variability that result from the magnetic reconnection of the stripes agree with those inferred in short-duration gamma-ray bursts. We find that the dissipation profile of the cumulative energy is roughly a power law in both radial distance, z , and τ , with a slope in the range of ∼1.7–3; more massive disks display larger slopes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS2019

Escape of Flare-Accelerated Particles in Solar Eruptive Events

Impulsive solar energetic particle events are widely believed to be due to the prompt escape into the interplanetary medium of flare-accelerated particles produced by solar eruptive events. According to the standard model for such events, however, particles accelerated by the flare reconnection should remain trapped in the flux rope comprising the coronal mass ejection. The particles should reach the Earth only much later, along with the bulk ejecta. To resolve this paradox, we have extended our previous axisymmetric model for the escape of flare-accelerated particles to fully three-dimentional (3D) geometries. We report the results of magnetohydrodynamic simluations of a coronal system that consists of a bipolar active region embedded in a background global dipole field structured by solar wind. our simulations show that multiple magnetic reconnection episodes occur prior to and during the coronal mass ejection 9CME) eruption and its interplanetary propagation. In addition to the episodes that build up the flux rope, reconnection between the open field and the CME couples the closed coronal to the open interplanetary field. Flare-accelerated particles initially trapped in the CME thereby gain access to the open interplanetary field along a trail blazed by magnetic reconnection. A key difference between these 3D results and our previous calculations is that the interchange reconnection allows accelerated particles to escape from deep within the CME flux rope. We estimate the spatial extent of the particle-escape channels. The relative timings between flare acceleration and release of the energetic particles through CME/open-field coupling are also determined. All our results compare favorably with observations.

Masson, S.↗

DOE OSTI2019

An Extended MHD Study of the 16 October 2015 MMS Diffusion Region Crossing

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has given us unprecedented access to high cadence particle and field data of magnetic reconnection at Earth's magnetopause. MMS first passed very near an X-line on 16 October 2015, the Burch event, and has since observed multiple X-line crossings. Subsequent 3-D particle-in-cell (PIC) modeling efforts of and comparison with the Burch event have revealed a host of novel physical insights concerning magnetic reconnection, turbulence-induced particle mixing, and secondary instabilities. In this study, we employ the Gkeyll simulation framework to study the Burch event with different classes of extended, multifluid magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), including models that incorporate important kinetic effects, such as the electron pressure tensor, with physics-based closure relations designed to capture linear Landau damping. Such fluid modeling approaches are able to capture different levels of kinetic physics in global simulations and are generally less costly than fully kinetic PIC. Herein we focus on the additional physics one can capture with increasing levels of fluid closure refinement via comparison with MMS data and existing PIC simulations. In particular, we find that the ten-moment model well captures the agyrotropic structure of the pressure tensor in the vicinity of the X-line and the magnitude of anisotropic electron heating observed in MMS and PIC simulations. However, the ten-moment model is found to have difficulty resolving the lower hybrid drift instability, which plays a fundamental role in heating and mixing electrons in the current layer.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

The appearance, motion, and disappearance of three-dimensional magnetic null points

While theoretical models and simulations of magnetic reconnection often assume symmetry such that the magnetic null point when present is co-located with a flow stagnation point, the introduction of asymmetry typically leads to non-ideal flows across the null point. To understand this behavior, we present exact expressions for the motion of three-dimensional linear null points. The most general expression shows that linear null points move in the direction along which the magnetic field and its time derivative are antiparallel. Null point motion in resistive magnetohydrodynamics results from advection by the bulk plasma flow and resistive diffusion of the magnetic field, which allows non-ideal flows across topological boundaries. Null point motion is described intrinsically by parameters evaluated locally; however, global dynamics help set the local conditions at the null point. During a bifurcation of a degenerate null point into a null-null pair or the reverse, the instantaneous velocity of separation or convergence of the null-null pair will typically be infinite along the null space of the Jacobian matrix of the magnetic field, but with finite components in the directions orthogonal to the null space. Not all bifurcating null-null pairs are connected by a separator. Furthermore, except under special circumstances, there will not exist a straight line separator connecting a bifurcating null-null pair. The motion of separators cannot be described using solely local parameters because the identification of a particular field line as a separator may change as a result of non-ideal behavior elsewhere along the field line.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗