Recent progress on particle acceleration and reconnection physics during magnetic reconnection in the magnetically-dominated relativistic regime

2020/06/27 by Fan Guo, Yi-Hsin Liu, Xiaocan Li +3
Physics and Astronomy · #Acceleration #Astrophysical plasma #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Kinetic energy #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Magnetic reconnection #Particle (ecology) #Particle acceleration #Plasma #Relativistic particle #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph.HE #astro-ph.SR #physics.plasm-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1063/5.0012094

review paper to appear in Physics of Plasmas. Resubmit after incorporating reviewers' comments

arxiv created 2020/06/27 · openalex created_date 2020/07/02 · openalex publication_date 2020/08/01 · arxiv updated 2020/08/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection in strongly magnetized astrophysical plasma environments is believed to be the primary process for fast energy release and particle energization. Currently, there is strong interest in relativistic magnetic reconnection in that it may provide a new explanation for high-energy particle acceleration and radiation in strongly magnetized astrophysical systems. We review recent advances in particle acceleration and reconnection physics in the magnetically dominated regime. Much discussion is focused on the physics of particle acceleration and power-law formation as well as the reconnection rate problem. In addition, we provide an outlook for studying reconnection acceleration mechanisms and kinetic physics in the next step.

Citations

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