TY - JOUR
T1 - On the value of the reconnection rate
AU - Comisso, L.
AU - Bhattacharjee, A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Cambridge University Press 2016Â.
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Astrophysical plasmas
KW - plasma nonlinear phenomena
KW - space plasma physics
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U2 - 10.1017/S002237781600101X
DO - 10.1017/S002237781600101X
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85014355921
SN - 0022-3778
VL - 82
JO - Journal of Plasma Physics
JF - Journal of Plasma Physics
IS - 6
M1 - 595820601
ER -