Stabilization of Magnetic Reconnection in the Relativistic Current Sheet

Abstract

Recently, magnetic reconnection, where a relativistically hot plasma is confined by a strong magnetic field, has received great attention in relation to astrophysical objects (e.g., a pulsar magnetosphere and magnetar). However, reconnection with a relativistic high-speed drift current in the plasma sheet has not been investigated yet. Thus, from both theoretical and computational points of view, we studied the growth rate of relativistic reconnection for the high-speed drift current in a relativistically hot plasma sheet. Consequently, we argue that, contrary to the conventional understanding of the fast energy dissipation by the relativistic reconnection, the growth of magnetic reconnection is suppressed.