Energetic spectra from semi-implicit particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection

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Hauptverfasser: Schoeffler, K. M., Bacchini, F., Kormann, K., Eichmann, B., Innocenti, M. E.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author Schoeffler, K. M.
Bacchini, F.
Kormann, K.
Eichmann, B.
Innocenti, M. E.
author_facet Schoeffler, K. M.
Bacchini, F.
Kormann, K.
Eichmann, B.
Innocenti, M. E.
contents Astrophysical observations suggest that magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasmas plays an important role in the acceleration of energetic particles. Modeling this accurately requires numerical schemes capable of addressing large scales and realistic magnetic field configurations without sacrificing the kinetic description needed to model particle acceleration self-consistently. We demonstrate the computational advantage of the relativistic semi-implicit method (RelSIM), which allows for reduced resolution while avoiding the numerical instabilities typically affecting standard explicit methods, helping to bridge the gap between macroscopic and kinetic scales. Two- and three-dimensional semi-implicit particle-in-cell simulations explore the linear tearing instability and the nonlinear development of reconnection and subsequent particle acceleration starting from a relativistic Harris equilibrium with no guide field. The simulations show that particle acceleration in the context of magnetic reconnection leads to energetic power-law spectra with cutoff energies, consistent with previous work done using explicit methods, but are obtained with a considerably reduced resolution.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_11100
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Energetic spectra from semi-implicit particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection
Schoeffler, K. M.
Bacchini, F.
Kormann, K.
Eichmann, B.
Innocenti, M. E.
Plasma Physics
Astrophysical observations suggest that magnetic reconnection in relativistic plasmas plays an important role in the acceleration of energetic particles. Modeling this accurately requires numerical schemes capable of addressing large scales and realistic magnetic field configurations without sacrificing the kinetic description needed to model particle acceleration self-consistently. We demonstrate the computational advantage of the relativistic semi-implicit method (RelSIM), which allows for reduced resolution while avoiding the numerical instabilities typically affecting standard explicit methods, helping to bridge the gap between macroscopic and kinetic scales. Two- and three-dimensional semi-implicit particle-in-cell simulations explore the linear tearing instability and the nonlinear development of reconnection and subsequent particle acceleration starting from a relativistic Harris equilibrium with no guide field. The simulations show that particle acceleration in the context of magnetic reconnection leads to energetic power-law spectra with cutoff energies, consistent with previous work done using explicit methods, but are obtained with a considerably reduced resolution.
title Energetic spectra from semi-implicit particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection
topic Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.11100