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Title: Transition from ion-coupled to electron-only reconnection: Basic physics and implications for plasma turbulence

Abstract

Here using 2.5 dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we simulate reconnection conditions appropriate for the magnetosheath and solar wind, i.e., plasma beta (ratio of gas pressure to magnetic pressure) greater than 1 and low magnetic shear (strong guide field). Changing the simulation domain size, we find that the ion response varies greatly. For reconnecting regions with scales comparable to the ion inertial length, the ions do not respond to the reconnection dynamics leading to “electron-only” reconnection with very large quasisteady reconnection rates. Note that in these simulations, the ion Larmor radius is comparable to the ion inertial length. Moreover, the transition to a more traditional “ion-coupled” reconnection is gradual as the reconnection domain size increases, with the ions becoming frozen-in in the exhaust when the magnetic island width in the normal direction reaches many ion inertial lengths. During this transition, the quasisteady reconnection rate decreases until the ions are fully coupled, ultimately reaching an asymptotic value. The scaling of the ion outflow velocity with the exhaust width during this electron-only to ion-coupled transition is found to be consistent with a theoretical model of a newly reconnected field line. In order to have a fully frozen-in ion exhaust with ion flows comparablemore » to the reconnection Alfvén speed, an exhaust width of at least several ion inertial lengths is needed. In turbulent systems with reconnection occurring between magnetic bubbles associated with fluctuations, using geometric arguments, we estimate that fully ion-coupled reconnection requires magnetic bubble length scales of at least several tens of ion inertial lengths.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3];  [4];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7];  [1]; ORCiD logo [3];  [1]
+ Show Author Affiliations
  1. Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
  2. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
  4. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  5. Univ. of Chicago, IL (United States)
  6. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
  7. West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
OSTI Identifier:
1577589
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physics of Plasmas
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 26; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
Publisher:
American Institute of Physics (AIP)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY

Citation Formats

Sharma Pyakurel, P., Shay, M. A., Phan, T. D., Matthaeus, W. H., Drake, J. F., TenBarge, J. M., Haggerty, C. C., Klein, K. G., Cassak, P. A., Parashar, T. N., Swisdak, M., and Chasapis, A. Transition from ion-coupled to electron-only reconnection: Basic physics and implications for plasma turbulence. United States: N. p., 2019. Web. doi:10.1063/1.5090403.
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Sharma Pyakurel, P., Shay, M. A., Phan, T. D., Matthaeus, W. H., Drake, J. F., TenBarge, J. M., Haggerty, C. C., Klein, K. G., Cassak, P. A., Parashar, T. N., Swisdak, M., & Chasapis, A. Transition from ion-coupled to electron-only reconnection: Basic physics and implications for plasma turbulence. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5090403
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Sharma Pyakurel, P., Shay, M. A., Phan, T. D., Matthaeus, W. H., Drake, J. F., TenBarge, J. M., Haggerty, C. C., Klein, K. G., Cassak, P. A., Parashar, T. N., Swisdak, M., and Chasapis, A. Fri . "Transition from ion-coupled to electron-only reconnection: Basic physics and implications for plasma turbulence". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5090403. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1577589.
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@article{osti_1577589,
title = {Transition from ion-coupled to electron-only reconnection: Basic physics and implications for plasma turbulence},
author = {Sharma Pyakurel, P. and Shay, M. A. and Phan, T. D. and Matthaeus, W. H. and Drake, J. F. and TenBarge, J. M. and Haggerty, C. C. and Klein, K. G. and Cassak, P. A. and Parashar, T. N. and Swisdak, M. and Chasapis, A.},
abstractNote = {Here using 2.5 dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, we simulate reconnection conditions appropriate for the magnetosheath and solar wind, i.e., plasma beta (ratio of gas pressure to magnetic pressure) greater than 1 and low magnetic shear (strong guide field). Changing the simulation domain size, we find that the ion response varies greatly. For reconnecting regions with scales comparable to the ion inertial length, the ions do not respond to the reconnection dynamics leading to “electron-only” reconnection with very large quasisteady reconnection rates. Note that in these simulations, the ion Larmor radius is comparable to the ion inertial length. Moreover, the transition to a more traditional “ion-coupled” reconnection is gradual as the reconnection domain size increases, with the ions becoming frozen-in in the exhaust when the magnetic island width in the normal direction reaches many ion inertial lengths. During this transition, the quasisteady reconnection rate decreases until the ions are fully coupled, ultimately reaching an asymptotic value. The scaling of the ion outflow velocity with the exhaust width during this electron-only to ion-coupled transition is found to be consistent with a theoretical model of a newly reconnected field line. In order to have a fully frozen-in ion exhaust with ion flows comparable to the reconnection Alfvén speed, an exhaust width of at least several ion inertial lengths is needed. In turbulent systems with reconnection occurring between magnetic bubbles associated with fluctuations, using geometric arguments, we estimate that fully ion-coupled reconnection requires magnetic bubble length scales of at least several tens of ion inertial lengths.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5090403},
journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
number = 8,
volume = 26,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Aug 16 00:00:00 EDT 2019},
month = {Fri Aug 16 00:00:00 EDT 2019}
}
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https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5090403
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