On the value of the reconnection rate

L. Comisso, A. Bhattacharjee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

45 Scopus citations

Abstract

Numerical simulations have consistently shown that the reconnection rate in certain collisionless regimes can be fast, of the order of , where and are the Alfvén speed and the reconnecting magnetic field upstream of the ion diffusion region. This particular value has been reported in myriad numerical simulations under disparate conditions. However, despite decades of research, the reasons underpinning this specific value remain mysterious. Here, we present an overview of this problem and discuss the conditions under which the '0.1 value' is attained. Furthermore, we explain why this problem should be interpreted in terms of the ion diffusion region length.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number595820601
JournalJournal of Plasma Physics
Volume82
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Condensed Matter Physics

Keywords

  • Astrophysical plasmas
  • plasma nonlinear phenomena
  • space plasma physics

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