title: Fast formation of magnetic islands in a plasma in the presence of counterstreaming electrons.
abstract: With the help of 2D-3V (two dimensional in space and three dimensional in velocity) Vlasov simulations we show that the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic current filamentation instability develops magnetic islands due to the onset of a fast reconnection process that occurs on the electron dynamical time scale. This process is relevant to magnetic channel coalescence in relativistic laser plasma interactions.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale Fisica della Materia, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Califano
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Attico
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pegoraro
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bertin
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Bulanov