Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Astrophysical Plasmas: A Powerful Mechanism of Nonthermal Emission
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arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866912484467671040 |
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| author | Sironi, Lorenzo Uzdensky, Dmitri A. Giannios, Dimitrios |
| author_facet | Sironi, Lorenzo Uzdensky, Dmitri A. Giannios, Dimitrios |
| contents | Magnetic reconnection -- a fundamental plasma physics process, where magnetic field lines of opposite polarity annihilate -- is invoked in astrophysical plasmas as a powerful mechanism of nonthermal particle acceleration, able to explain fast-evolving, bright high-energy flares. Near black holes and neutron stars, reconnection occurs in the ``relativistic'' regime, in which the mean magnetic energy per particle exceeds the rest mass energy. This review reports recent advances in our understanding of the kinetic physics of relativistic reconnection: (1) Kinetic simulations have elucidated the physics of plasma heating and nonthermal particle acceleration in relativistic reconnection; (2) The physics of radiative relativistic reconnection, with its self-consistent interplay between photons and reconnection-accelerated particles -- a peculiarity of luminous, high-energy astrophysical sources -- is the new frontier of research; (3) Relativistic reconnection plays a key role in global models of high-energy sources, both in terms of global-scale layers, as well as of reconnection sites generated as a byproduct of local magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. We summarize themes of active investigation and future directions, emphasizing the role of upcoming observational capabilities, laboratory experiments, and new computational tools. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_02101 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Astrophysical Plasmas: A Powerful Mechanism of Nonthermal Emission Sironi, Lorenzo Uzdensky, Dmitri A. Giannios, Dimitrios High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Plasma Physics Space Physics Magnetic reconnection -- a fundamental plasma physics process, where magnetic field lines of opposite polarity annihilate -- is invoked in astrophysical plasmas as a powerful mechanism of nonthermal particle acceleration, able to explain fast-evolving, bright high-energy flares. Near black holes and neutron stars, reconnection occurs in the ``relativistic'' regime, in which the mean magnetic energy per particle exceeds the rest mass energy. This review reports recent advances in our understanding of the kinetic physics of relativistic reconnection: (1) Kinetic simulations have elucidated the physics of plasma heating and nonthermal particle acceleration in relativistic reconnection; (2) The physics of radiative relativistic reconnection, with its self-consistent interplay between photons and reconnection-accelerated particles -- a peculiarity of luminous, high-energy astrophysical sources -- is the new frontier of research; (3) Relativistic reconnection plays a key role in global models of high-energy sources, both in terms of global-scale layers, as well as of reconnection sites generated as a byproduct of local magnetohydrodynamic instabilities. We summarize themes of active investigation and future directions, emphasizing the role of upcoming observational capabilities, laboratory experiments, and new computational tools. |
| title | Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Astrophysical Plasmas: A Powerful Mechanism of Nonthermal Emission |
| topic | High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Plasma Physics Space Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02101 |