skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Kowal, Grzegorz"

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. Abstract We investigate the impact of turbulence on magnetic reconnection through high-resolution 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, spanning Lundquist numbers fromS= 103to 106. Building on the A. Lazarian & E. T. Vishniac theory, which asserts reconnection rate independence from ohmic resistivity, we introduce small-scale perturbations untilt= 0.1tA. Even after the perturbations cease, turbulence persists, resulting in sustained high reconnection rates ofVrec/VA∼ 0.03–0.08. These rates exceed those generated by resistive tearing modes (plasmoid chain) in 2D and 3D MHD simulations by factors of 5–6. Our findings match observations in solar phenomena and previous 3D MHD global simulations of solar flares, accretion flows, and relativistic jets. The simulations show a steady-state fast reconnection rate compatible with the full development of turbulence in the system, demonstrating the robustness of the process in turbulent environments. We confirm reconnection rate independence from the Lundquist number, supporting Lazarian and Vishniac’s theory of fast turbulent reconnection. Additionally, we find a mild dependence ofVrecon the plasma–βparameter, decreasing from 0.036 to 0.028 (in Alfvén units) asβincreases from 2.0 to 64.0 for simulations with a Lundquist number of 105. Lastly, we explore the magnetic Prandtl number’s (Prm=ν/η) influence on the reconnection rate and find it negligible during the turbulent regime across the range tested, from Prm= 1 to 60. 
    more » « less
    Free, publicly-accessible full text available July 9, 2026