Energy conversion through collisionless driven reconnection

Nonlinear development of collisionless driven reconnection and the consequent energy conversion process are investigated by making use of a two-and-one-half dimensional particle simulation. It is found that there appear two spatial regions in which the energy conversion between particles and an electromagnetic field takes place actively. An electric field along the equilibrium current grows in the reconnection area, and it leads mainly to the electron acceleration and heating. On the other hand, an electrostatic field is created in the downstream as a results of magnetic compression by the fast divergent plasma how, and it acts as an energy conversion channel from the electron energy to the ion energy in a collisionless plasma.