Particle Acceleration Due to Coronal Non-null Magnetic Reconnection.

Various topological features, for example magnetic null points and separators, have been inferred as likely sites of magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the solar atmosphere. In fact, magnetic reconnection is not constrained to solely take place at or near such topological features and may also take place in the absence of such features. Studies of particle acceleration using non-topological reconnection experiments embedded in the solar atmosphere are uncommon. We aim to investigate and characterise particle behaviour in a model of magnetic reconnection which causes an arcade of solar coronal magnetic field to twist and form an erupting flux rope, crucially in the absence of any common topological features where reconnection is often thought to occur. We use a numerical scheme that evolves the gyro-averaged orbit equations of single electrons and protons in time and space, and simulate the gyromotion of particles in a fully analytical global field model. We observe and discuss how the magnetic and electric fields of the model and the initial conditions of each orbit may lead to acceleration of protons and electrons up to 2 MeV in energy (depending on model parameters). We describe the morphology of time-dependent acceleration and impact sites for each particle species and compare our findings to those recovered by topologically based studies of three-dimensional (3D) reconnection and particle acceleration. We also broadly compare aspects of our findings to general observational features typically seen during two-ribbon flare events.

One-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium for the force-free Harris sheet.

In this Letter, the first nonlinear force-free Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium is presented. One component of the equilibrium magnetic field has the same spatial structure as the Harris sheet, but whereas the Harris sheet is kept in force balance by pressure gradients, in the force-free solution presented here force balance is maintained by magnetic shear. Magnetic pressure, plasma pressure and plasma density are constant. The method used to find the equilibrium is based on the analogy of the one-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium problem to the motion of a pseudoparticle in a two-dimensional conservative potential. The force-free solution can be generalized to a complete family of equilibria that describe the transition between the purely pressure-balanced Harris sheet to the force-free Harris sheet.

Negative specific heat of a magnetically self-confined plasma torus.

It is shown that the thermodynamic maximum-entropy principle predicts negative specific heat for a stationary, magnetically self-confined current-carrying plasma torus. Implications for the magnetic self-confinement of fusion plasma are considered.