The Role of Magnetic Reconnection in Energizing Protons and Heavier Ions at the Heliospheric Current Sheet

Abstract

During near-Sun crossings of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS), Parker Solar Probe (PSP) observed populations of high-energy protons and heavier ions indicating possible energization by magnetic reconnection up to 10s -- 100s keV nucleon${}^{-1}$. Here we study ion acceleration by magnetic reconnection at the HCS. To estimate ion energization, we solve the Parker transport equation coupled to a large-scale 2D MHD reconnection simulation. We find that multiple ion species develop power-law distributions with both spectral index and high-energy cutoff $E_{\text{max}}$ consistent with in-situ data. By accounting for the injection physics determined by kinetic simulations, we confirm that the charge-to-mass ratio scales as $E_{\text{max}}\propto (Q/M{)}^{\hat{I}}\pm$ with $\hat{I}\pm \sim 0.8-1.1$, approximately consistent with PSP measurements in the broader range $\hat{I}\pm \sim 0.6-1.7$. In the limit where ions are injected at the same energy per nucleon, $\hat{I}\pm$ can be as low as $\sim 0.3$. These findings further support the role of magnetic reconnection in producing high-energy heavy ions at the HCS.

14 pages, 3 figures. Accepted in ApJ as of May 13, 2026