Fast Reconnection in Nonrelativistic 2D Electron-Positron Plasmas

Journal Article · Fri Jul 11 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVLETT.101.025003· OSTI ID:21134114

Chacon, L; Simakov, Andrei N ^[1]; Lukin, V S ^[2]; Zocco, A ^[1]; Politecnico di Torino, Torino ^[3]

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1. Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico (United States)
2. University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (United States)
3. Italy

In this Letter, we put forth (and validate numerically) a fluid-based analytical theory, which predicts that fast reconnection in nonrelativistic, low-{beta} pair plasmas is possible in collisionless regimes. This novel theoretical result complements recent kinetic computational evidence and challenges the accepted understanding, which considers fast dispersive waves (not supported in pair plasmas) as the key enabling physics ingredient for fast reconnection. The implications of this theory for the understanding of fast reconnection in standard electron-proton plasmas are discussed.

• OSTI ID: 21134114
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.025003; (c) 2008 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ELECTRONS
PLASMA
POSITRONS
PROTONS
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS