Radiative PIC simulations of relativistic pair plasma: multiple interacting current sheets and turbulent evolution

TL;DR

This study uses 2D relativistic PIC simulations to explore how multiple current sheets in pair plasmas lead to turbulent magnetic reconnection, particle acceleration, and synchrotron emission in high-energy astrophysical environments.

Contribution

It demonstrates the nonlinear evolution of multi-sheet reconnection into turbulence, revealing secondary acceleration and intermittent radiative bursts.

Findings

Particles are accelerated beyond the burn-off limit during initial reconnection.

A Kolmogorov-like magnetic energy spectrum develops over a few decades.

Turbulence enhances particle energization and produces intermittent radiation bursts.

Abstract

Two-dimensional relativistic particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of radiative magnetic reconnection in pair plasmas with multiple interacting current sheets are carried out to mimic the dynamics in high-energy astrophysical environments, such as particle acceleration regions in pulsar wind nebulae and relativistic outflows, where the magnetic field is expected to reverse polarity multiple times. Initially, due to reconnection within each isolated sheet, particles are accelerated and synchrotron emission beyond the burn-off limit is confirmed, even if the particle distribution function shows steep slopes. After this phase, plasmoids lead to cross-sheet interactions and merging, with new current sheets formed. In this regime a Kolmogorov-like spectrum for the magnetic energy develops over a couple of decades, followed by a dissipation range starting around 5~$d_e$ (electron inertial lengths), showing that multi-sheet reconnection evolves nonlinearly into well-developed turbulence. This phase provides secondary acceleration and further cooling by synchrotron emission, with intermittent radiative bursts. We show that high energy accelerated particles by the primary current sheets are further energized during the turbulent phase, while the distribution of the most energetic particles remains steep.