Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Scientific paper
2011-09-04
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
4 pages, 2 figures. Proceedings of "Advances in Computational Astrophysics: methods, tools and outcomes" (Cefalu', June 13-17,
Scientific paper
We present the results of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical numerical simulations of relativistic magnetic reconnection, with particular emphasis on the dynamics of Petschek-type configurations with high Lundquist numbers, S ~ 10^5-10^8. The numerical scheme adopted, allowing for unprecedented accuracy for this type of calculations, is based on high order finite volume and discontinuous Galerkin methods as recently proposed by Dumbser & Zanotti (2009). The possibility of producing high Lorentz factors is discussed, by studying the effects produced on the dynamics by different magnetization and resistivity regimes. We show that Lorentz factors close to ~4 can be produced for a plasma magnetization parameter sigma=20. Moreover, we find that the Sweet-Parker layers are unstable, generating secondary magnetic islands, but only for S>S_c~10^8, much larger than what is reported in the Newtonian regime.
Dumbser Michael
Zanotti Olindo
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