arXiv · 2601.02460
Magnetic reconnection with a 0.1 rate: Effective resistivity in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics
Abstract
Relativistic magnetic reconnection is thought to power various multi-wavelength emission signatures from neutron stars and black holes. Relativistic resistive magnetohydrodynamics (RRMHD) offers the simplest model of reconnection. However, a small uniform resistivity underestimates the reconnection rate compared to first-principles kinetic models. By employing an effective resistivity based on kinetic models - which connects the reconnection electric field to the charge-starved current density - we show that RRMHD can reproduce the increased reconnection rate of kinetic models, both in local current sheets and in global black hole magnetospheres.
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B. Ripperda, M. P. Grehan, A. Moran, S. Selvi, L. Sironi, A. Philippov, A. Bransgrove, O. Porth. 2026-01-05. Magnetic reconnection with a 0.1 rate: Effective resistivity in general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02460
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