Relativistic Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

Rostom Mbarek; Colby Haggerty; Lorenzo Sironi; Michael Shay; Damiano Caprioli; Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.145101

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Relativistic Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Relativistic Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

Rostom Mbarek, Colby Haggerty, Lorenzo Sironi, Michael Shay, Damiano Caprioli and Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)

Physical review letters, Vol.128(14), p.145101

04/08/2022

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.145101

PMID: 35476472

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Abstract

We derive basic scaling equations for relativistic magnetic reconnection in the general case of asymmetric inflow conditions and obtain predictions for the outflow Lorentz factor and the reconnection rate. Kinetic particle-in-cell simulations show that the outflow speeds as well as the nonthermal spectral index are constrained by the inflowing plasma with the weaker magnetic energy per particle, in agreement with the scaling predictions. These results are significant for understanding nonthermal emission from reconnection in magnetically dominated astrophysical systems, many of which may be asymmetric in nature. The results provide a quantitative approach for including asymmetry on reconnection in the relativistic regime.

Physical Sciences

Physics

Physics, Multidisciplinary

Science & Technology

Details

Title: Subtitle: Relativistic Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection
Creators: Rostom Mbarek - University of Chicago
Colby Haggerty - University of Hawaii System
Lorenzo Sironi - Columbia University
Michael Shay - University of Delaware
Damiano Caprioli - Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States)
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Physical review letters, Vol.128(14), p.145101
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.145101
PMID: 35476472
NLM abbreviation: Phys Rev Lett
ISSN: 0031-9007
eISSN: 1079-7114
Publisher: Amer Physical Soc
Number of pages: 6
Grant note: Cottrell Scholars Award DE-SC0021254 / U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); United States Department of Energy (DOE) AGS-1936393 / NSF FDSS Grant 80NSSC20K1556; 80NSSC18K1218; 80NSSC20K0198 / NASA; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) PHY-1903412; AST2108201; PHY-2010240; AGS-2024198 / NSF; National Science Foundation (NSF) TG-AST180008 / XSEDE TACC DE-SC0021254 / DoE; United States Department of Energy (DOE)
Language: English
Date published: 04/08/2022
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9985224319502771

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