A reduced Landau-gyrofluid model for magnetic reconnection driven by electron inertia

Abstract

An electromagnetic reduced gyrofluid model for collisionless plasmas, accounting for electron inertia, finite ion Larmor radius effects and Landau-fluid closures for the electron fluid is derived by means of an asymptotic expansion from a parent gyrofluid model. In the absence of terms accounting for Landau damping, the model is shown to possess a non-canonical Hamiltonian structure. The corresponding Casimir invariants are derived and use is made thereof, in order to obtain a set of normal field variables, in terms of which the Poisson bracket and the model equations take a remarkably simple form. The inclusion of perpendicular temperature fluctuations generalizes previous Hamiltonian reduced fluid models and, in particular, the presence of ion perpendicular gyrofluid temperature fluctuations reflects into the presence of two new Lagrangian invariants governing the ion dynamics. The model is applied, in the cold-ion limit, to investigate numerically a magnetic reconnection problem. The Landau damping terms are shown to reduce, by decreasing the electron temperature fluctuations, the linear reconnection rate and to delay the nonlinear island growth. The saturated island width, on the other hand, is independent of Landau damping. The fraction of magnetic energy converted into perpendicular kinetic energy also appears to be unaffected by the Landau damping terms, which, on the other hand, dissipate parallel kinetic energy as well as free energy due to density and electron temperature fluctuations.