The Reversibility Of Magnetic Reconnection

TL;DR

This paper investigates the reversibility of magnetic reconnection energy transfer, showing that certain magnetic field configurations and guide fields influence reversibility, supported by analytic models and kinetic simulations.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the conditions affecting the reversibility of magnetic reconnection through combined analytic and simulation approaches.

Findings

Irreversibility linked to separatrix crossings and weak magnetic fields

Guide fields enhance the reversibility of reconnection

Time-reversed simulations can revert to reconnecting states

Abstract

The reversibility of the transfer of energy from the magnetic field to the surrounding plasma during magnetic reconnection is examined. Trajectories of test particles in an analytic model of the fields demonstrate that irreversibility is associated with separatrix crossings and regions of weaker magnetic field. Inclusion of a guide field increases the degree of reversibility. Full kinetic simulations with a particle-in-cell code support these results and demonstrate that while time-reversed simulations at first "un-reconnect", they eventually evolve into a reconnecting state.