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Parallel electric fields are inefficient drivers of energetic electrons in magnetic reconnection
We present two-dimensional kinetic simulations, with a broad range of initial guide fields, which isolate the role of parallel electric fields ( E ∥ ) in energetic electron production during collisionless magnetic reconnection. In the strong guide field regime, E ∥ drives essentially all of the elec...
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Published in: | Physics of plasmas 2016-12, Vol.23 (12) |
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Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | We present two-dimensional kinetic simulations, with a broad range of initial guide fields, which isolate the role of parallel electric fields (
E
∥
) in energetic electron production during collisionless magnetic reconnection. In the strong guide field regime,
E
∥
drives essentially all of the electron energy gains, yet fails to generate an energetic component. We suggest that this is due to the weak energy scaling of particle acceleration from
E
∥
compared to that of a Fermi-type mechanism responsible for energetic electron production in the weak guide-field regime. This result has important implications for energetic electron production in astrophysical systems and reconnection-driven dissipation in turbulence. |
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ISSN: | 1070-664X 1089-7674 |
DOI: | 10.1063/1.4972082 |