System size dependence of collisionless reconnection rate
It is a widely accepted paradigm that collisionless magnetic reconnection proceeds at a universal fast rate of $\sim0.1$ when normalized to a properly defined reconnecting magnetic field and Alfvén speed, effectively independent of the macroscopic system size. This conclusion, derived primarily from kinetic simulations of classical Harris current sheets with kinetic-scale thickness, stands in contrast to results from forced reconnection and island coalescence, where the rate significantly depends on the system size. Here, we reconcile this disparity by performing a rigorous scaling study using both particle-in-cell and Hall magnetohydrodynamic simulations. We demonstrate that when the global magnetic configuration is self-consistently preserved by scaling the initial current sheet thickness proportionally with the system size, the ``universal'' fast rate disappears. Instead, the reconnection rate decreases as the system size increases. These results indicate that dependence on macroscopic scales is not peculiar to specific geometries but is a fundamental property of collisionless reconnection, effectively unifying the Harris sheet with other configurations exhibiting size-dependence.
Authors
- Naoki Bessho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5431-174X)
- Judith T. Karpen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6975-5642)
- Li-Jen Chen
- Amitava Bhattacharjee
- Yi-Min Huang
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2026-10-30
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/xpsr-4hqn
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00