Effective Resistivity in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model for effective resistivity in collisionless magnetic reconnection, validated by particle-in-cell simulations, addressing the challenge of incorporating kinetic Reynolds stress in MHD models.

Contribution

It introduces a first-principles theoretical model of effective resistivity for collisionless MR, bridging kinetic effects and MHD simulations.

Findings

Theoretical formulation of effective resistivity derived from particle dynamics.

Validation of the model through PIC simulations.

Discussion of physics underlying the effective resistivity.

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection (MR) in collisionless plasma is often attributed to the off-diagonal electron Reynolds stress, which can give rise to a large induction electric field in the reconnection region. However, in magneto-hydro-dynamics (MHD) simulations of MR, it is difficult to implement the full Reynolds stress, which is kinetic in nature. In this paper, we propose a theoretical model of effective resistivity from the first principle of particle dynamics. The derived theoretical formulation of the effective resistivity is verified by full particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, and the corresponding physics is discussed.