Orientation and stability of asymmetric magnetic reconnection x-line

Abstract

The orientation and stability of the reconnection x-line in asymmetric geometry is studied using three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell simulations. We initiate reconnection at the center of a large simulation domain to minimize the boundary effect. The resulting x-line has sufficient freedom to develop along an optimal orientation, and it remains laminar. Companion 2D simulations indicate that this x-line orientation maximizes the reconnection rate. The divergence of the non-gyrotropic pressure tensor breaks the frozen-in condition, consistent with its 2D counterpart. We then design 3D simulations with one dimension being short to fix the x-line orientation, but long enough to allow the growth of the fastest growing oblique tearing modes. This numerical experiment suggests that reconnection tends to radiate secondary oblique tearing modes if it is externally (globally) forced to proceed along an orientation not favored by the local physics. The development of oblique structure easily leads to turbulence inside small periodic systems.

arXiv comment8 pages, 9 figures, Journal of Geophysical Research 2018

References in corpus (11)

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Cited by in corpus (7)

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• Scaling of magnetic reconnection with a limited x-line extent
• Wave emission of non-thermal electron beams generated by magnetic reconnection
• Spontaneously generated flux ropes in 3-D magnetic reconnection
• Observation of a Knotted Electron Diffusion Region in Earth's Magnetotail Reconnection