Kinetic simulation of magnetic reconnection in the presence of shear

Conference · Mon Sep 05 04:00:00 EDT 1988

OSTI ID:7088436

Francis, G E; Hewett, D W; Max, C E

The basic physical processes associated with collisionless magnetic reconnection are investigated using the implicit PIC code AVANTI. The code is based on a 2.5-D fully electromagnetic direct implicit algorithm which has proven stable for arbitrary time step. This stability makes it possible to separate out the respective roles of the highly magnetized electrons and the un-magnetized ions for large ion-electron mass ratios. It is found that the inclusion of a guide magnetic field (magnetic shear) severely slows the initial stages of reconnection and damps out the electrostatic ringing if local values of the guide field are above a threshold determined by questions of electron mobility. 9 refs., 6 figs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 7088436
• Report Number(s): UCRL-99582; CONF-8809173-1; ON: DE89001717
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640107* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
640430 -- Fluid Physics-- Magnetohydrodynamics
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
COLLISIONLESS PLASMA
ELECTRON MOBILITY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
ION TEMPERATURE
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MOBILITY
PARTICLE MOBILITY
PLASMA
PLASMA SIMULATION
SHEAR
SIMULATION