Dissipation in relativistic pair-plasma reconnection
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 (United States)
An investigation into the relativistic dissipation in magnetic reconnection is presented. The investigated system consists of an electron-positron plasma. A relativistic generalization of Ohm's law is derived. A set of numerical simulations is analyzed, composed of runs with and without guide magnetic field, and of runs with different species temperatures. The calculations indicate that the thermal inertia-based dissipation process survives in relativistic plasmas. For antiparallel reconnection, it is found that the pressure tensor divergence remains the sole contributor to the reconnection electric field, whereas relativistic guide field reconnection exhibits a similarly important role of the bulk inertia terms.
- OSTI ID:
- 21069874
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 14, Issue 11; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2801482; (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Nonthermal Particle Acceleration in 3D Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Pair Plasma
Particle energization in 3D magnetic reconnection of relativistic pair plasmas