Thermal-Inertial Effects on Relativistic Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

Abstract

A general description for relativistic magnetic reconnection is given in terms of asymmetric inflow plasma conditions, such as plasma density, velocity magnetic field strength, and their respective thermal-inertial effects. In this work, we show that thermal-inertial effects increase reconnection rates, generalizing previous results. Furthermore, different reconnection rates can be defined depending on the initial asymmetric conditions for the inflow plasma into the reconnection region. We explore two possibilities for reconnection rates, which, depending on the asymmetric magnetization, display different strengths. We discuss the importance on defining appropriate reconnection rates for corresponding asymmetric plasma systems in the context of previous results.