Particle simulation study of collisionless driven reconnection in a sheared magnetic field

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Abstract
Nonlinear development of collisionless driven reconnection and the consequent energy conversion process between the field and particles in a sheared magnetic field are investigated by means of a two-and-one-half-dimensional particle simulation. Magnetic reconnection takes place in two steps irrespective of a longitudinal magnetic field, but the growth rate of the reconnection field varies in proportion to the E×B drift velocity at an input boundary. It is clearly observed that the triggering mechanism of collisionless driven reconnection for the fast growing phase changes from an electron meandering dominance in a weak longitudinal field to an electron inertia dominance in a strong field. The electron acceleration and heating take place in the reconnection area under the influence of reconnection electric field, while the electron energy is converted to the ion energy through the action of an electrostatic (ambipolar) field excited by magnetic compression in the downstream. It is also found that, in the presence of a longitudinal magnetic field, the electron acceleration by the reconnection field takes place effectively and the generated force-free current is maintained for a long period while forming an asymmetric spatial profile of current layer.