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.

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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
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article

System size dependence of collisionless reconnection rate

Naoki Bessho, Judith T. Karpen, Li-Jen Chen, Amitava Bhattacharjee et al.
Physical Review Letters
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
article

System size dependence of collisionless reconnection rate

Naoki Bessho, Judith T. Karpen, Li-Jen Chen, Amitava Bhattacharjee, Yi-Min Huang
article en

Abstract

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.

Physical Review Letters
Openalex Percentile: Top 71%
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
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System size dependence of collisionless reconnection rate — Naoki Bessho, Judith T. Karpen, et al. · Physical Review Letters (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS