Role of Z-pinches in magnetic reconnection in space plasmas
| Autor: | Andrey Divin, Stefano Markidis, Giovanni Lapenta, Vyacheslav Olshevsky |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2015 |
| Předmět: |
Magnetic field line
FOS: Physical sciences Space (mathematics) Ion Physics - Space Physics Physics::Plasma Physics Plasma simulation Fysik A-particles Collisionless Collisionless plasmas Turbulent magnetic reconnections Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) Magnetic energies Physics Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) Magnetic energy Turbulence Energy dissipation Magnetic reconnection Plasma Dissipation Condensed Matter Physics Physics - Plasma Physics Space Physics (physics.space-ph) Magnetic field Computational physics Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph) Magnetic reconnections Pinch effect Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics Substantial energy Magnetic fields Physics::Space Physics Physical Sciences Space plasmas Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics |
| Popis: | A widely accepted scenario of magnetic reconnection in collisionless space plasmas is the breakage of magnetic field lines in X-points. In laboratory, reconnection is commonly studied in pinches, current channels embedded into twisted magnetic fields. No model of magnetic reconnection in space plasmas considers both nullpoints and pinches as peers. We have performed a particle-in-cell simulation of magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional configuration where null-points are present initially, and Z-pinches are formed during the simulation along the lines of spiral null-points. The non-spiral null-points are more stable than spiral ones, and no substantial energy dissipation is associated with them. On the contrary, turbulent magnetic reconnection in the pinches causes the magnetic energy to decay at a rate of similar to 1.5% per ion gyro period. Dissipation in similar structures is a likely scenario in space plasmas with large fraction of spiral null-points. QC 20150507 |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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