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On the value of the reconnection rate

Part of: Focus on Plasma Astrophysics Solved and Unsolved problems in Plasma Physics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2016

L. Comisso Open the ORCID record for L. Comisso [Opens in a new window]  and
A. Bhattacharjee
L. Comisso*
Affiliation:
Department of Astrophysical Sciences and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
A. Bhattacharjee
Affiliation:
Department of Astrophysical Sciences and Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: lcomisso@princeton.edu
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Abstract

Numerical simulations have consistently shown that the reconnection rate in certain collisionless regimes can be fast, of the order of $0.1v_{A}B_{u}$ , where $v_{A}$ and $B_{u}$ are the Alfvén speed and the reconnecting magnetic field upstream of the ion diffusion region. This particular value has been reported in myriad numerical simulations under disparate conditions. However, despite decades of research, the reasons underpinning this specific value remain mysterious. Here, we present an overview of this problem and discuss the conditions under which the ‘0.1 value’ is attained. Furthermore, we explain why this problem should be interpreted in terms of the ion diffusion region length.

Keywords

astrophysical plasmasplasma nonlinear phenomenaspace plasma physics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 82 , Issue 6 , December 2016 , 595820601
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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