Two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic simulations of relativistic magnetic reconnection

Abstract

We investigate the large-scale evolution of a relativistic magnetic reconnection in an electron-positron pair plasma by a relativistic two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code. We introduce an interspecies friction force as an effective resistivity to dissipate magnetic fields. We demonstrate that magnetic reconnection successfully occurs in our two-fluid system, and that it involves Petschek-type bifurcated current layers in a later stage. We further observe a quasi-steady evolution thanks to an open boundary condition, and find that the Petschek-type structure is stable over the long time period. Simulation results and theoretical analyses exhibit that the Petschek outflow channel becomes narrower when the reconnection inflow contains more magnetic energy, as previously claimed. Meanwhile, we find that the reconnection rate goes up to ∼1 in extreme cases, which is faster than previously thought. The role of the resistivity, implications for reconnection models in the magnetically dominated limit, and relevance to kinetic reconnection works are discussed. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.