Power of Turbulent Reconnection: Star Formation, Acceleration of Cosmic Rays, Heat Transfer, Flares and Gamma Ray Bursts

TL;DR

This paper discusses the role of turbulent magnetic reconnection in various astrophysical phenomena, highlighting its implications for star formation, cosmic ray acceleration, heat transfer, flares, and gamma-ray bursts, based on a validated theoretical model.

Contribution

It presents a successful numerical validation of the Lazarian & Vishniac 1999 model of fast turbulent reconnection and explores its broad astrophysical implications.

Findings

Reconnection diffusion can remove magnetic fields from collapsing clouds.

Cosmic rays are accelerated within reconnected magnetic filaments.

Reconnection processes can produce flares and gamma-ray bursts.

Abstract

Turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical fluids. Therefore it is necessary to study magnetic reconnection in turbulent environments. The model of fast turbulent reconnection proposed in Lazarian & Vishniac 1999 has been successfully tested numerically and it suggests numerous astrophysical implications. Those include a radically new possibility of removing magnetic field from collapsing clouds which we termed "reconnection diffusion", acceleration of cosmic rays within shrinking filaments of reconnected magnetic fields, flares of reconnection, from solar flares to much stronger ones which can account for gamma ray bursts. In addition, the model reveals a very intimate relation between magnetic reconnection and properties of strong turbulence, explaining how turbulent eddies can transport heat in magnetized plasmas. This is a small fraction the astrophysical implications of the quantitative insight into the fundamental process of magnetic reconnection in turbulent media.