scholarly journals Lower‐Hybrid‐Drift Vortices in the Electron‐Scale Magnetic Reconnection Layer

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ng ◽  
L.‐J. Chen ◽  
A. Le ◽  
A. Stanier ◽  
S. Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Lower Hybrid ◽  
Reconnection Layer

scholarly journals Regulation of the normalized rate of driven magnetic reconnection through shocked flux pileup

2021 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Olson ◽  
Jan Egedal ◽  
Michael Clark ◽  
Douglass A. Endrizzi ◽  
Samuel Greess ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
System Size ◽  
Force Balance ◽  
Absolute Rate ◽  
Reconnection Rate ◽  
Supersonic Plasma ◽  
Reconnection Layer ◽  
Inflow Conditions ◽  
Theoretical Results

Magnetic reconnection is explored on the Terrestrial Reconnection Experiment (TREX) for asymmetric inflow conditions and in a configuration where the absolute rate of reconnection is set by an external drive. Magnetic pileup enhances the upstream magnetic field of the high-density inflow, leading to an increased upstream Alfvén speed and helping to lower the normalized reconnection rate to values expected from theoretical consideration. In addition, a shock interface between the far upstream supersonic plasma inflow and the region of magnetic flux pileup is observed, important to the overall force balance of the system, thereby demonstrating the role of shock formation for configurations including a supersonically driven inflow. Despite the specialized geometry where a strong reconnection drive is applied from only one side of the reconnection layer, previous numerical and theoretical results remain robust and are shown to accurately predict the normalized rate of reconnection for the range of system sizes considered. This experimental rate of reconnection is dependent on system size, reaching values as high as 0.8 at the smallest normalized system size applied.

scholarly journals Effect of interchange instability on magnetic reconnection

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Lyatsky ◽  
M. L. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Plasma Flow ◽  
Buoyancy Force ◽  
Strong Turbulence ◽  
Polarization Electric Field ◽  
Interchange Instability ◽  
Reconnection Layer ◽  
Fast Reconnection

Abstract. We present here the results of a study of interacting magnetic fields that involves a force normal to the reconnection layer. In the presence of such force, the reconnection layer becomes unstable to interchange disturbances. The interchange instability results in formation of tongues of heated plasma that leaves the reconnection layer through its wide surface rather than through its narrow ends, as is the case in traditional magnetic reconnection models. This plasma flow out of the reconnection layer facilitates the removal of plasma from the layer and leads to fast reconnection. The proposed mechanism provides fast reconnection of interacting magnetic fields and does not depend on the thickness of the reconnection layer. This instability explains the strong turbulence and bidirectional streaming of plasma that is directed toward and away from the reconnection layer that is observed frequently above reconnection layers. The force normal to the reconnection layer also accelerates the removal of plasma islands appearing in the reconnection layer during turbulent reconnection. In the presence of this force normal to the reconnection layer, these islands are removed from the reconnection layer by the "buoyancy force", as happens in the case of interchange instability that arises due to the polarization electric field generated at the boundaries of the islands.

Large-scale particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection in solar flares

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaocan Li ◽  
Fan Guo
Keyword(s):  
Particle Acceleration ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Power Law ◽  
Solar Flares ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Macroscopic Model ◽  
Scale Particle ◽  
Reconnection Layer

<p>Magnetic reconnection is a primary driver of magnetic energy release and particle acceleration processes in space and astrophysical plasmas. Solar flares are a great example where observations have suggested that a large fraction of magnetic energy is converted into nonthermal particles and radiation. One of the major unsolved problems in reconnection studies is nonthermal particle acceleration. In the past decade or two, 2D kinetic simulations have been widely used and have identified several acceleration mechanisms in reconnection. Recent 3D simulations have shown that the reconnection layer naturally generates magnetic turbulence. Here we report our recent progresses in building a macroscopic model that includes these physics for explaining particle acceleration during solar flares. We show that, for sufficient large systems, high-energy particle acceleration processes can be well described as flow compression and shear. By means of 3D kinetic simulations, we found that the self-generated turbulence is essential for the formation of power-law electron energy spectrum in non-relativistic reconnection. Based on these results, we then proceed to solve an energetic particle transport equation in a compressible reconnection layer provided by high-Lundquist-number MHD simulations. Due to the compression effect, particles are accelerated to high energies and develop power-law energy distributions. The power-law index and maximum energy are both comparable to solar flare observations. This study clarifies the nature of particle acceleration in large-scale reconnection sites and initializes a framework for studying large-scale particle acceleration during solar flares.</p>

scholarly journals Conversion of magnetic energy in the magnetic reconnection layer of a laboratory plasma

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaaki Yamada ◽  
Jongsoo Yoo ◽  
Jonathan Jara-Almonte ◽  
Hantao Ji ◽  
Russell M. Kulsrud ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Laboratory Plasma ◽  
Reconnection Layer

scholarly journals Study of energy conversion and partitioning in the magnetic reconnection layer of a laboratory plasmaa)

2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 056501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaaki Yamada ◽  
Jongsoo Yoo ◽  
Jonathan Jara-Almonte ◽  
William Daughton ◽  
Hantao Ji ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Reconnection Layer

scholarly journals Lower Hybrid Drive in Solar Magnetic Reconnection Regions: Implications for Electron Acceleration and Solar Heating

2001 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iver H. Cairns
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Charge Exchange ◽  
Electron Acceleration ◽  
Solar Radio Emission ◽  
Lower Hybrid ◽  
Neutral Atmosphere ◽  
Ion Heating ◽  
Lower Corona ◽  
The Magnetic Field

AbstractLower hybrid (LH) drive involves the resonant acceleration of electrons parallel to the magnetic field by lower hybrid waves, often driven by ions with ring or ring-beam distributions. Charge-exchange between hydrogen atoms and protons with relative motions perpendicular to the magnetic field leads to ring distributions of pickup ions, with concomitant perpedicular ion ‘heating’. This paper considers the combination of LH drive and charge-exchange in the outflow regions of magnetic reconnection sites in the solar chromosphere and lower corona, showing that the combined mechanism naturally predicts major perpendicular ion heating and parallel electron acceleration, and exploring the mechanism’s relevance to specific solar reconnection phenomena, heating of the solar atmosphere, and production of energetic electrons that generate solar radio emission. Although primarily qualitative, analysis shows that the mechanism has numerous attractive aspects, including perpendicular ion heating that increases linearly with ion mass, parallel electron acceleration, predicted ion and electron temperatures that span those of the chromosphere and lower corona, and parallel electron speeds spanning those for type III bursts. Applications to chromospheric explosive events and low-lying active regions, and to heating the chromosphere, appear particularly suitable. Sweeping of plasma frozen-in to chromospheric and coronal magnetic field lines across the neutral atmosphere due to motions of sub-photospheric fields represents an obvious and important generalisation of the mechanism away from reconnection sites. The requirements that the neutrals not be strongly collisionally coupled to the plasma and that sufficient neutrals are available for charge-exchange restricts the LH drive mechanism to above the photosphere but below where the corona is essentially fully ionised. LH drive may thus be important in heating the chromosphere and low corona while other heating mechanisms dominate at higher altitudes. Although attractive thus far, quantitative analyses of LH drive in these contexts are necessary before definitive conclusions are reached.

scholarly journals Tripolar electric field Structure in guide field magnetic reconnection

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Song Fu ◽  
Shiyong Huang ◽  
Meng Zhou ◽  
Binbin Ni ◽  
Xiaohua Deng
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Particle Simulation ◽  
Space Plasma Physics ◽  
Guide Field ◽  
Substantial Modification ◽  
Reconnection Layer ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. It has been shown that the guide field substantially modifies the structure of the reconnection layer. For instance, the Hall magnetic and electric fields are distorted in guide field reconnection compared to reconnection without guide fields (i.e., anti-parallel reconnection). In this paper, we performed 2.5-D electromagnetic full particle simulation to study the electric field structures in magnetic reconnection under different initial guide fields (Bg). Once the amplitude of a guide field exceeds 0.3 times the asymptotic magnetic field B0, the traditional bipolar Hall electric field is clearly replaced by a tripolar electric field, which consists of a newly emerged electric field and the bipolar Hall electric field. The newly emerged electric field is a convective electric field about one ion inertial length away from the neutral sheet. It arises from the disappearance of the Hall electric field due to the substantial modification of the magnetic field and electric current by the imposed guide field. The peak magnitude of this new electric field increases linearly with the increment of guide field strength. Possible applications of these results to space observations are also discussed. Keywords. Space plasma physics (magnetic reconnection)

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