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

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 Identification of the Electron-Diffusion Region during Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma

2008 ◽  
Vol 101 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Ren ◽  
Masaaki Yamada ◽  
Hantao Ji ◽  
Stefan P. Gerhardt ◽  
Russell Kulsrud
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Diffusion Region ◽  
Laboratory Plasma ◽  
Electron Diffusion

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.

scholarly journals Studying particle acceleration from driven magnetic reconnection at the termination shock of a relativistic striped wind using particle-in-cell simulations

2020 ◽  
Vol 235 ◽  
pp. 07003
Author(s):  
Yingchao Lu ◽  
Fan Guo ◽  
Patrick Kilian ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Chengkun Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Particle Acceleration ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Maximum Energy ◽  
Termination Shock ◽  
Particle In Cell ◽  
Poynting Flux ◽  
Electrons And Positrons ◽  
Particle Kinetic Energy ◽  
Fermi Type

A rotating pulsar creates a surrounding pulsar wind nebula (PWN) by steadily releasing an energetic wind into the interior of the expanding shockwave of supernova remnant or interstellar medium. At the termination shock of a PWN, the Poynting-flux- dominated relativistic striped wind is compressed. Magnetic reconnection is driven by the compression and converts magnetic energy into particle kinetic energy and accelerating particles to high energies. We carrying out particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations to study the shock structure as well as the energy conversion and particle acceleration mechanism. By analyzing particle trajectories, we find that many particles are accelerated by Fermi-type mechanism. The maximum energy for electrons and positrons can reach hundreds of TeV.

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

Energetic electron acceleration during magnetic reconnection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huishan Fu
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Energetic Electron ◽  
Electron Acceleration ◽  
Particle Energy ◽  
Acceleration Process ◽  
The Earth

<p>During magnetic reconnection, magnetic energy is explosively converted to particle energy and consequently electrons are accelerated to hundreds of keV that are dangerous to spacecraft and astronauts. To date, how and where the acceleration happens during reconnection is still unknown. Also, how efficient can the acceleration be remains a puzzle. Using spacecraft measurements (e.g., Cluster and MMS) and numerical simulations, many attempts have been made to answer these questions during the last twenty years. In this talk, I will briefly review these progresses and then show our recent results in understanding these issues. Specifically, I will (1) report a super-efficient electron acceleration by magnetic reconnection in the Earth’s magnetotail, during which electron fluxes are enhanced by 10000 times within 30 seconds; (2) discuss the mechanisms leading to super-efficient electron acceleration; (3) report the first evidence of electron acceleration at a reconnecting magnetopause, during which the acceleration process is nonadiabatic; and (4) report electron acceleration in the </p>

Cause of Sudden Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma

2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Choi ◽  
D. Craig ◽  
F. Ebrahimi ◽  
S. C. Prager
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Laboratory Plasma

scholarly journals Three-dimensional magnetic reconnection and its application to solar flares

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miho Janvier
Keyword(s):  
Kinetic Energy ◽  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Solar Flares ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Current Layer ◽  
Solar Observations ◽  
The Universe

Solar flares are powerful radiations occurring in the Sun’s atmosphere. They are powered by magnetic reconnection, a phenomenon that can convert magnetic energy into other forms of energy such as heat and kinetic energy, and which is believed to be ubiquitous in the universe. With the ever increasing spatial and temporal resolutions of solar observations, as well as numerical simulations benefiting from increasing computer power, we can now probe into the nature and the characteristics of magnetic reconnection in three dimensions to better understand the phenomenon’s consequences during eruptive flares in our star’s atmosphere. We review in the following the efforts made on different fronts to approach the problem of magnetic reconnection. In particular, we will see how understanding the magnetic topology in three dimensions helps in locating the most probable regions for reconnection to occur, how the current layer evolves in three dimensions and how reconnection leads to the formation of flux ropes, plasmoids and flaring loops.

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