Electron acceleration during macroscale Magnetic reconnection

Arnold, H. et al. (2021) Electron acceleration during macroscale Magnetic reconnection. Physical Review Letters, 126(13), 135101. (doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.135101)

Abstract

The first self-consistent simulations of electron acceleration during magnetic reconnection in a macroscale system are presented. Consistent with solar flare observations, the spectra of energetic electrons take the form of power laws that extend more than two decades in energy. The drive mechanism for these nonthermal electrons is Fermi reflection in growing and merging magnetic flux ropes. A strong guide field suppresses the production of nonthermal electrons by weakening the Fermi drive mechanism. For a weak guide field the total energy content of nonthermal electrons dominates that of the hot thermal electrons even though their number density remains small. Our results are benchmarked with the hard x-ray, radio, and extreme ultraviolet observations of the X8.2-class solar flare on September 10, 2017.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kontar, Professor Eduard
• Authors: Arnold, H., Drake, J. F., Swisdak, M., Guo, F., Dahlin, J. T., Chen, B., Fleishman, G., Glesener, L., Kontar, E., Phan, T., and Shen, C.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Journal Name: Physical Review Letters
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• ISSN: 0031-9007
• ISSN (Online): 1079-7114
• Published Online: 30 March 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 American Physical Society
• First Published: First published in Physical Review Letters 126(13):135101
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher