TY - CONF
AU - Dmitri Uzdensky
AU - John Mehlhaff
AU - Gregory Werner
AU - Mitchell Begelman
AB - Magnetic reconnection is a key fundamental plasma-physical process operating in many astrophysical systems and responsible for sudden and often violent release of accumulated magnetic energy, powering spectacular X-ray and gamma-ray flares. In many of the most enigmatic relativistic high-energy astrophysical systems (those associated with neutron stars and black holes) the plasma conditions are so extreme that exotic physics effects -- e.g., strong interaction of plasma with radiation and QED processes such as pair creation -- need to be included self-consistently in the plasma description. These effects modify reconnection dynamics, energetics, nonthermal particle acceleration, and observable radiative signatures. They thus necessitate the exploration of a new frontier in plasma astrophysics -- radiative magnetic reconnection. In this talk I will present a systematic overview of extreme radiative magnetic reconnection, with a focus on an orderly classification of the different physical parameter regimes. I will also discuss astrophysical applications of radiative reconnection with concrete examples drawn from modern high-energy astrophysics research.In collaboration with: John Mehlhaff, University of Colorado, Boulder; Gregory Werner, University of Colorado, Boulder; Mitchell Begelman, JILA and University of Colorado, Boulder

Work supported by NASA ATP Grants NNX16AB28G and NNX17AK57G, NSF Grant AST-1903335, and DOE Grant DE-SC0008409.
BT - APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting 2020
DA - 2020-01
N2 - Magnetic reconnection is a key fundamental plasma-physical process operating in many astrophysical systems and responsible for sudden and often violent release of accumulated magnetic energy, powering spectacular X-ray and gamma-ray flares. In many of the most enigmatic relativistic high-energy astrophysical systems (those associated with neutron stars and black holes) the plasma conditions are so extreme that exotic physics effects -- e.g., strong interaction of plasma with radiation and QED processes such as pair creation -- need to be included self-consistently in the plasma description. These effects modify reconnection dynamics, energetics, nonthermal particle acceleration, and observable radiative signatures. They thus necessitate the exploration of a new frontier in plasma astrophysics -- radiative magnetic reconnection. In this talk I will present a systematic overview of extreme radiative magnetic reconnection, with a focus on an orderly classification of the different physical parameter regimes. I will also discuss astrophysical applications of radiative reconnection with concrete examples drawn from modern high-energy astrophysics research.In collaboration with: John Mehlhaff, University of Colorado, Boulder; Gregory Werner, University of Colorado, Boulder; Mitchell Begelman, JILA and University of Colorado, Boulder

Work supported by NASA ATP Grants NNX16AB28G and NNX17AK57G, NSF Grant AST-1903335, and DOE Grant DE-SC0008409.
PB - APS
PY - 2020
EP - NM09.003
T2 - APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting 2020
TI - Magnetic Reconnection under Extreme Astrophysical Plasma Conditions
UR - https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2020APS..DPPN09003U/abstract
VL - 2020
ER -