Plasma and Fusion Research

Volume 14, 3401076 (2019)

Regular Articles

Suppressed Reflection of Electric Fields Induced in a Stressed X-Point Collapse
Takayuki HARUKI, Naru TSUJINE1), Shota YONEZAWA1) and Masahiro SATO
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
1)
Graduate School of Science and Engineering for Education, University of Toyama, Toyama 930-8555, Japan
(Received 10 January 2019 / Accepted 9 March 2019 / Published 25 April 2019)

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection is a basic physical process in which the magnetic field energy is converted into plasma heating and plasma kinetic energy through non-thermal particle acceleration. To investigate collisionless magnetic reconnection, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of a stressed (magnetic) X-point collapse have been performed, and the simulation results are highly similar to those obtained for the well-known Harris-type current sheet model. However, through careful study, we found that the stressed X-point configuration initially induces electric fields, which propagate outward, are reflected from the simulation boundaries, and then influence the reconnection physics. In this study, we performed precise PIC simulations of a stressed X-point collapse by introducing an absorption region. The results show that the electric fields propagating outward are damped in the absorption region and their reflection from the boundaries is largely suppressed. The influence of the reflected electric fields on the X-point is therefore removed from the system. Hence, the introduction of an absorption region is highly effective for investigating the physics of a stressed X-point collapse.

Keywords

magnetic reconnection, X-point, particle-in-cell simulation, absorption region

DOI: 10.1585/pfr.14.3401076

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