Fluid vs. kinetic magnetic reconnection with strong guide fields

The fast rates of magnetic reconnection found in both nature and experiments are important to understand theoretically. Recently, it was demonstrated that two-fluid magnetic reconnection remains fast in the strong guide field regime, regardless of the presence of fast-dispersive waves. This conclusi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics of plasmas 2015-10, Vol.22 (10)
Main Authors: Stanier, A., Simakov, Andrei N., Chacón, L., Daughton, W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Computer simulation
FLUIDS
KINETIC EQUATIONS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
Mathematical models
PLASMA FLUID EQUATIONS
Plasma physics
PLASMA SIMULATION
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Summary:The fast rates of magnetic reconnection found in both nature and experiments are important to understand theoretically. Recently, it was demonstrated that two-fluid magnetic reconnection remains fast in the strong guide field regime, regardless of the presence of fast-dispersive waves. This conclusion is in agreement with recent results from kinetic simulations, and is in contradiction to the findings in an earlier two-fluid study, where it was suggested that fast-dispersive waves are necessary for fast reconnection. In this paper, we give a more detailed derivation of the analytic model presented in a recent letter and present additional simulation results to support the conclusions that the magnetic reconnection rate in this regime is independent of both collisional dissipation and system-size. In particular, we present a detailed comparison between fluid and kinetic simulations, finding good agreement in both the reconnection rate and overall length of the current layer. Finally, we revisit the earlier two-fluid study, which arrived at different conclusions, and suggest an alternative interpretation for the numerical results presented therein.
ISSN:1070-664X
1089-7674
DOI:10.1063/1.4932330