Kinetic Simulations of Nonrelativistic Perpendicular Shocks of Young Supernova Remnants. III. Magnetic Reconnection

Abstract

Abstract Fully kinetic two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations are used to study electron acceleration at high-Mach-number nonrelativistic perpendicular shocks. Supernova remnant shocks are mediated by the Weibel instability, which is excited because of an interaction between shock-reflected and upstream ions. Nonlinear evolution of the Weibel instability leads to the formation of current sheets. At the turbulent shock ramp the current sheets decay through magnetic reconnection. The number of reconnection sites strongly depends on the ion-to-electron mass ratio and the Alfvénic Mach number of the simulated shock. Electron acceleration is observed at locations where magnetic reconnection operates. For the highest mass ratios almost all electrons are involved in magnetic reconnection, which makes the magnetic reconnection the dominant acceleration process for electrons at these shocks. We discuss the relevance of our results for 3D systems with realistic ion-to-electron mass ratio.