Transition of Magnetic Reconnection Regimes in Partially Ionized Plasmas

TL;DR

This paper systematically explores how ion-neutral coupling and ionization fraction influence magnetic reconnection regimes in partially ionized plasmas using a new three-fluid model, revealing transition behaviors and scaling laws.

Contribution

It introduces the first systematic two-parameter study of reconnection in partially ionized plasmas, combining ion-neutral collisionality and ionization fraction with a novel three-fluid model.

Findings

Reconnection rate scales as  with ionization fraction in strongly coupled regime.

Transition from coupled to decoupled reconnection occurs as collisionality decreases.

Current sheet thins to ion inertial length, not hybrid scale, during fast reconnection.

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas plays a crucial role in a wide range of solar, astrophysical, and laboratory environments. While reconnection in such plasmas is commonly characterized by the ion-neutral coupling strength and the ionization fraction $\chi=n_{i}/(n_{i}+n_{n})$, most previous studies have focused primarily on the former. A systematic exploration of the ionization fraction, particularly in combination with ion-neutral coupling, is still lacking. This study presents the first systematic scan of the two-dimensional parameter space defined by ion-neutral collisionality and ionization fraction, enabling investigation of the transition from strongly coupled reconnection to faster, decoupled reconnection. To achieve this, we employ a new three-fluid, five-moment numerical model that treats electrons, ions, and neutrals as separate species on an equal footing. We find that in the strongly coupled regime, the reconnection rate is consistent with a $\chi^{1/4}$ scaling. As collisionality decreases, the system transitions to a fast, ionization-independent regime. On the other hand, in all simulations, the current sheet thins down to the ion inertial length di, rather than the expanded hybrid scale $d_{i}\chi^{-1/2}$ predicted by analytic fluid theories. The identified critical thickness and the resulting onset of fast reconnection agree reasonably well with recent fully kinetic simulations and laboratory experiments. In addition, we show that, over a wide range of coupling strengths, the ion outflow velocities remain Alfv\'enic, scaling with the appropriate ion or hybrid Alfv\'en speed, while the hybrid outflow velocity scales as $\chi^{1/2}$ when normalized by ion Alfv\'en speed.