Magnetic field energy dissipation due to particle trapping in a force-free configuration of collisionless pair plasmas.
It is shown by using a two-dimensional, fully relativistic, electromagnetic particle-in-cell simulation code that a force-free magnetic configuration in collisionless, electron-positron (pair) plasmas becomes unstable against current-driven Buneman instability and subsequently there occurs a strong magnetic field energy dissipation associated with collisionless magnetic reconnection, which can be driven by particle trapping due to two-dimensional electric potentials remaining in the nonlinear stage of the initial current-driven Buneman instability. About 43% of the initial magnetic field energy dissipates and is transformed to plasma heating as well as high-energy particle production. The energy spectrum in the high-energy region is given by an exponential type with two temperatures. We also show the simulation results for the electron-ion plasma to compare the effect of the mass ratio of the electron and proton.
Sakai
J I
JI
Laboratory for Plasma Astrophysics, Faculty of Engineering, Toyama University, Toyama 930-8555, Japan.
Sugiyama
D
D
Haruki
T
T
Bobrova
N
N
Bulanov
S
S