Strongly localized magnetic reconnection by the super-Alfvénic shear flow

Liu, Yi -Hsin; Hesse, M.; Guo, F.; Li, H.; Nakamura, T. K. M.

doi:10.1063/1.5042539

Strongly localized magnetic reconnection by the super-Alfvénic shear flow

Journal Article · Thu Aug 02 00:00:00 EDT 2018 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5042539· OSTI ID:1543874

^[1]; ^[2]; Guo, F. ^[3]; Li, H. ^[3]; ^[4]

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States)
Univ. of Bergen, Bergen (Norway); Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Australian Academy of Sciences, Graz (Austria)

We demonstrate that the dragging of the magnetic field by the super-Alfvénic shear flows out of the reconnection plane can strongly localize the reconnection x-line in collisionless pair plasmas, reversing the current direction at the x-line. Reconnection with this new morphology, which is impossible in resistive-magnetohydrodynamics, is enabled by the particle inertia. Surprisingly, the quasi-steady reconnection rate remains of order 0.1 even though the aspect ratio of the local x-line geometry is larger than unity, which completely excludes the role of tearing physics. Here, we explain this by examining the transport of the reconnected magnetic flux and the opening angle made by the upstream magnetic field, concluding that the reconnection rate is still limited by the constraint imposed at the inflow region. Based on these findings, we propose that this often observed fast rate value of order 0.1 itself, in general, is an upper bound value determined by the upstream constraint, independent of the localization mechanism and dissipation therein.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

OSTI ID:: 1543874

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 25; ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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