Conditions for Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection under the Presence of Shear Flow and Guide Field

Abstract

The scaling of the relativistic reconnection outflow speed is studied in the presence of both shear flows parallel to the reconnecting magnetic fields and guide fields pointing out of the reconnection plane. In nonrelativistic reconnection, super-Alfvénic shear flows have been found to suppress reconnection. We extend the analytical model of this phenomenon to the relativistic regime and find similar behavior, which is confirmed by particle-in-cell simulations. Unlike the nonrelativistic limit, the addition of a guide field lowers the in-plane Alfvén velocity, contributing to slower outflow jets and the more efficient suppression of reconnection in strongly magnetized plasmas.

5 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (12)

• Formation of Hard Power-laws in the Energetic Particle Spectra Resulting from Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection
• Why does steady-state magnetic reconnection have a maximum local rate of order 0.1?
• Pulsar Wind Nebulae as Cosmic Pevatrons: A Current Sheet's Tale
• Relativistic magnetic reconnection in pair plasmas and its astrophysical applications
• Reconnection-driven particle acceleration in relativistic shear flows
• Scaling of magnetic reconnection in relativistic collisionless plasmas
• Self-regulation of the reconnecting current layer in relativistic pair plasma reconnection
• Identification of active magnetic reconnection using magnetic flux transport in plasma turbulence
• Particle acceleration in shearing flows: the case for large-scale jets
• Relativistic Asymmetric Reconnection
• Effects of a Velocity Shear on Double Current Sheet Systems: Explosive Reconnection and Particle Acceleration
• Effect of In-Plane Shear Flow on the Magnetic Island Coalescence Instability