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Recent Evolution in the Theory of Magnetic Reconnection and Its Connection with Turbulence

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Microphysics of Cosmic Plasmas

Part of the book series: Space Sciences Series of ISSI ((SSSI,volume 47))

Abstract

The concept of reconnection is found in many fields of physics with the closest analogue to magnetic reconnection being the reconnection of vortex tubes in hydrodynamics. In plasmas, magnetic reconnection plays an important role in release of energy associated with the magnetic shear into particle energy. Although most studies to date have focused on 2D reconnection, the availability of 3D petascale kinetic simulations have brought the complexity of 3D reconnection to the forefront in collisionless reconnection studies. Here we briefly review the latest advances in 2D and compare and contrast the results with recent 3D studies that address role of anomalous transport in reconnection, effects of turbulence on the rate and structure, among others. Another outcome of recent research is the realization of a deeper link between turbulence and reconnection where the common denominator is the generic formation of electron scale sheets which dissipate the energy through reconnection. Finally, we close the review by listing some of the major outstanding problems in reconnection physics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0407, USA

    Homa Karimabadi

  2. SciberQuest, Inc., Del Mar, CA, 92014, USA

    Homa Karimabadi & Vadim Roytershteyn

  3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS F699, Los Alamos, NM, USA

    William Daughton & Yi-Hsin Liu

Authors
  1. Homa Karimabadi
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  2. Vadim Roytershteyn
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  3. William Daughton
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  4. Yi-Hsin Liu
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Correspondence to Homa Karimabadi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Imperial College London, London, UK

    André Balogh  & Peter Cargill  & 

  2. Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Andrei Bykov

  3. Euratom/UKAEA Fusion Association, Abingdon, UK

    Richard Dendy

  4. LPC2E/CNRS-University of Orleans, Orleans Cedex 2, France

    Thierry Dudok de Wit

  5. Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA, USA

    John Raymond

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Karimabadi, H., Roytershteyn, V., Daughton, W., Liu, YH. (2013). Recent Evolution in the Theory of Magnetic Reconnection and Its Connection with Turbulence. In: Balogh, A., Bykov, A., Cargill, P., Dendy, R., Dudok de Wit, T., Raymond, J. (eds) Microphysics of Cosmic Plasmas. Space Sciences Series of ISSI, vol 47. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7413-6_9

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