Evidence of magnetic field switch-off in Particle In Cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection with guide field

Abstract:

The long term evolution of large domain Particle In Cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection is investigated following observations that show two possible outcomes for collisionless reconnection: towards a Petschek-like configuration (Gosling 2007) or towards multiple X points (Eriksson et al. 2014). In the simulations presented here and described in [Innocenti2015*], a mixed scenario develops. At earlier time, plasmoids are emitted, disrupting the formation of Petschek-like structures. Later, an almost stationary monster plasmoid forms, preventing the emission of other plasmoids. A situation reminding of Petschek’s switch-off then ensues. Switch-off is obtained through a slow shock / rotational discontinuity (SS/RD) compound structure, with the rotation discontinuity downstreamthe slow shock. Two external slow shocks located in correspondence of the separatrices reduce the in plane tangential component of the magnetic field, but not to zero. Two transitions reminding of rotational discontinuities in the internal part of the exhausts then perform the final switch-off. Both the slow shocks and the rotational discontinuities are characterized as such through the analysis of their Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions. A moderate guide field is used to suppress the development of the firehose instability in the exhaust that prevented switch off in [Liu2012].

Compound SS/RD structures, with the RD located downstream the SS, have been observed in both the solar wind and the magnetosphere in Wind and Geotail data respectively [Whang1998, Whang2004].

Ion trajectiories across the SS/RD structure are followed and the kinetic origin of the SS/RD structure is investigated.

* Innocenti, Goldman, Newman, Markidis, Lapenta, Evidence of magnetic field switch-off in collisionless magnetic reconnection, accepted in Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2015

Acknowledgements: NERSC, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy, Contract N. DE-AC02-05CH11231, PRACE SuperMUC machine, contract N. 2013091928, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, grant N. 12O5215N.