Agudelo Rueda, JA;
Verscharen, D;
Wicks, RT;
Owen, CJ;
Nicolaou, G;
Walsh, AP;
Zouganelis, I;
... Vargas Dominguez, S; + view all
(2021)
Three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in particle-in-cell simulations of anisotropic plasma turbulence.
Journal of Plasma Physics
, 87
(3)
, Article 905870228. 10.1017/S0022377821000404.
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Abstract
We use three-dimensional (3-D) fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations to study the occurrence of magnetic reconnection in a simulation of decaying turbulence created by anisotropic counter-propagating low-frequency Alfvén waves consistent with critical-balance theory. We observe the formation of small-scale current-density structures such as current filaments and current sheets as well as the formation of magnetic flux ropes as part of the turbulent cascade. The large magnetic structures present in the simulation domain retain the initial anisotropy while the small-scale structures produced by the turbulent cascade are less anisotropic. To quantify the occurrence of reconnection in our simulation domain, we develop a new set of indicators based on intensity thresholds to identify reconnection events in which both ions and electrons are heated and accelerated in 3-D particle-in-cell simulations. According to the application of these indicators, we identify the occurrence of reconnection events in the simulation domain and analyse one of these events in detail. The event is related to the reconnection of two flux ropes, and the associated ion and electron exhausts exhibit a complex 3-D structure. We study the profiles of plasma and magnetic-field fluctuations recorded along artificial-spacecraft trajectories passing near and through the reconnection region. Our results suggest the presence of particle heating and acceleration related to small-scale reconnection events within magnetic flux ropes produced by the anisotropic Alfvénic turbulent cascade in the solar wind. These events are related to current structures of the order of a few ion inertial lengths in size.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in particle-in-cell simulations of anisotropic plasma turbulence |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1017/S0022377821000404 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377821000404 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | plasma simulation, space plasma physics, plasma nonlinear phenomena |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics > Advanced Instrumentation Systems |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10125079 |
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