IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v9y2018i1d10.1038_s41467-018-04065-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relativistic magnetic reconnection driven by a laser interacting with a micro-scale plasma slab

Author

Listed:
  • Longqing Yi

    (Chalmers University of Technology
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Baifei Shen

    (Shanghai Normal University)

  • Alexander Pukhov

    (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf)

  • Tünde Fülöp

    (Chalmers University of Technology)

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection (MR) is a fundamental plasma process associated with conversion of the magnetic field energy into kinetic plasma energy, which is invoked to explain many non-thermal signatures in astrophysical events. Here we demonstrate that ultrafast relativistic MR in a magnetically dominated regime can be triggered by a readily available (TW-mJ-class) laser interacting with a micro-scale plasma slab. Three-dimensional (3D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations show that when the electrons beams excited on both sides of the slab approach the end of the plasma, MR occurs and it gives rise to efficient energy dissipation that leads to the emission of relativistic electron jets with cut-off energy ~12 MeV. The proposed scenario allows for accessing an unprecedented regime of MR in the laboratory, and may lead to experimental studies that can provide insight into open questions such as reconnection rate and particle acceleration in relativistic MR.

Suggested Citation

  • Longqing Yi & Baifei Shen & Alexander Pukhov & Tünde Fülöp, 2018. "Relativistic magnetic reconnection driven by a laser interacting with a micro-scale plasma slab," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04065-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04065-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-04065-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-018-04065-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-04065-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.