Dissipation in Relativistic Pair-plasma Reconnection: Revisited

Abstract

Basic properties of relativistic magnetic reconnection in electron-positron pair plasmas are investigated by using a particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation. We first revisit a problem by Hesse & Zenitani (2007), who examined the kinetic Ohm's law across the X line. We formulate a relativistic Ohm's law by decomposing the stress-energy tensor. Then, the role of the new term, called the heat-flow inertial term, is examined in the PIC simulation data. We further evaluate the energy balance in the reconnection system. These analyses demonstrate physically transparent ways to diagnose relativistic kinetic data.

arXiv comment14 pages

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• On the Boris solver in particle-in-cell simulation
• First-Principles Theory of the Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection Rate in Astrophysical Pair Plasmas
• The Critical Role of Collisionless Plasma Energization on the Structure of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection
• Exact Calculation of Nonideal Fields Demonstrates Dominance of Injection in Relativistic Reconnection
• Relativistic resistive magnetohydrodynamics for a two-component plasma