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

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a high-intensity laser interacting with a micro-scale plasma slab can induce ultrafast relativistic magnetic reconnection, leading to efficient particle acceleration and relativistic electron jet emission.

Contribution

It introduces a novel laser-driven setup for studying relativistic magnetic reconnection using 3D particle-in-cell simulations, revealing new insights into energy transfer and particle acceleration.

Findings

Relativistic electron jets with ~12 MeV energy are produced.

Ultrafast magnetic reconnection occurs in a magnetically-dominated plasma.

The scenario enhances understanding of reconnection rate and field dissipation.

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process associated with conversion of the embedded magnetic field energy into kinetic and thermal plasma energy, via bulk acceleration and Ohmic dissipation. In many high-energy astrophysical events, magnetic reconnection is invoked to explain the non-thermal signatures. However, the processes by which field energy is transferred to the plasma to power the observed emission are still not properly understood. Here, via 3D particle-in-cell simulations of a readily available (TW-mJ-class) laser interacting with a micro-scale plasma slab, we show that when the electron beams excited on both sides of the slab approach the end of the plasma structure, ultrafast relativistic magnetic reconnection occurs in a magnetically-dominated (low-$\beta$) plasma. The resulting efficient particle acceleration leads to the emission of relativistic electron jets with cut-off energy $\sim$ 12 MeV. The proposed scenario can significantly improve understanding of fundamental questions such as reconnection rate, field dissipation and particle acceleration in relativistic magnetic reconnection.