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Proton acceleration in three-dimensional non-null magnetic reconnection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2016

Z. Akbari ,
M. Hosseinpour  and
M. A. Mohammadi
Z. Akbari
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Department, Faculty of Physics, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
M. Hosseinpour*
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Department, Faculty of Physics, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
M. A. Mohammadi
Affiliation:
Plasma Physics Department, Faculty of Physics, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran
*
†Email address for correspondence: hosseinpour@tabrizu.ac.ir
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Abstract

In a three-dimensional non-null magnetic reconnection, the process of magnetic reconnection takes place in the absence of a null point where the magnetic field vanishes. By randomly injecting a population of 10 000 protons, the trajectory and energy distribution of accelerated protons are investigated in the presence of magnetic and electric fields of a particular model of non-null magnetic reconnection with the typical parameters for the solar corona. The results show that protons are accelerated along the magnetic field lines away from the non-null point only at azimuthal angles where the magnitude of the electric field is strongest and therefore particles obtain kinetic energies of the order of thousands of MeV and even higher. Moreover, the energy distribution of the population depends strongly on the amplitude of the electric and magnetic fields. Comparison shows that a non-null magnetic reconnection is more efficient in accelerating protons to very high GeV energies than a null-point reconnection.

Keywords

plasma instabilitiesspace plasma physics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 82 , Issue 5 , October 2016 , 905820509
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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