Plasmoid-Induced Turbulence in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

The dissipation mechanism in collisionless magnetic reconnection in a quasisteady period is investigated for the antiparallel field configuration. A three-dimensional simulation in a fully kinetic system reveals that a current-aligned electromagnetic mode produces turbulent electron flow that facilitates the transport of the momentum responsible for the current density. It is found that the electromagnetic turbulence is drastically enhanced by plasmoid formations and has a significant impact on the dissipation at the magnetic x-line. The linear analyses confirm that the mode survives in the real ion-to-electron mass ratio, which assures the importance of the turbulence in collisionless reconnection. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.265004