Fully Kinetic Vlasov Simulation of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

This chapter presents preliminary results of a 2D antiparallel magnetic reconnection simulation performed with the ViDA code introduced in Chap. 8. Firstly, the magnetic reconnection signatures are presented. Then, the chapter focuses on the evaluation of the contribution of the terms of Ohm’s law in the EDR. It is found that the electron inertia term, and in particular the term which is proportional to the temporal variation of the current density plays a role in sustaining the reconnection electric field. This contribution is not limited to an electron scale region around the X-point but it extends to the ion scales in the outflow direction. This feature can depend on the artificially low mass ratio adopted here.