Speaker
Dr
Maria Elena Innocenti
(University of Leuven, Belgium)
Description
We describe here the first observation of switch-off of the in plane
tangential
component of the magnetic field in Particle In Cell (PIC) simulations of
magnetic
reconnection, a situation reminding of Petschek’s switch-off. Switch-off
is obtained
through a slow shock / rotational discontinuity compound structure.
Two external slow
shocks located in correspondence of the separatrices reduce the
tangential component
of the magnetic field, but not to zero. Two anomalous 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. Large domain sizes and long
simulated times
are needed to observe the development of the structures, which are
disrupted at
earlier times by the presence of plasmoids. A moderate guide field is
used to suppress
the development of the firehose instability in the exhaust.
Primary authors
Prof.
David Newman
(University of Colorado, USA)
Prof.
Giovanni Lapenta
(University of Leuven, Belgium)
Dr
Maria Elena Innocenti
(University of Leuven, Belgium)
Prof.
Martin Goldman
(University of Colorado, USA)
Prof.
Stefano Markidis
(KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
