On the collisionless asymmetric magnetic reconnection rate

Abstract

A prediction of the steady-state reconnection electric field in asymmetric reconnection is obtained by maximizing the reconnection rate as a function of the opening angle made by the upstream magnetic field on the weak magnetic field (magnetosheath) side. The prediction is within a factor of two of the widely examined asymmetric reconnection model [Cassak and Shay, Phys. Plasmas 14, 102114, 2007] in the collisionless limit, and they scale the same over a wide parameter regime. The previous model had the effective aspect ratio of the diffusion region as a free parameter, which simulations and observations suggest is on the order of 0.1, but the present model has no free parameters. In conjunction with the symmetric case [Liu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 118, 085101, 2017], this work further suggests that this nearly universal number 0.1, essentially the normalized fast reconnection rate, is a geometrical factor arising from maximizing the reconnection rate within magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)-scale constraints.

5 pages, 4 figures

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• Orientation and stability of asymmetric magnetic reconnection x-line
• On the collisionless asymmetric magnetic reconnection rate
• Strongly localized magnetic reconnection by the super-Alfvenic shear flow
• Simulation of plasmaspheric plume impact on dayside magnetic reconnection
• On the origin of "patchy" energy conversion in electron diffusion regions
• Multi-scale coupling during magnetopause reconnection: the interface between the electron and ion diffusion regions
• A new Look at the Electron Diffusion Region in Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection
• Role of FLR effects in magnetopause equilibrium