Can Magnetic Reconnection Accelerate Energetic Particles in the Heliosheath?

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Abstract
The mechanism for accelerating energetic particles in the outer heliosphere is still under debate. The termination shock, turbulence, and magnetic reconnection have all been proposed as viable mechanisms. We investigate compression-driven particle acceleration during magnetic reconnection in the heliospheric current sheet using the MHD–SDE framework that incorporates energetic particle feedback into the MHD evolution. For the heliosheath conditions considered here, we find that reconnection-driven acceleration is inefficient downstream of the termination shock, whereas reconnection near the heliopause can generate stronger compression and produce a power-law differential intensity spectrum J ( ε ) ∝ ε −5.4 . However, even the hardest spectrum achieved during magnetic reconnection remains much steeper than the typical J ( ε ) ∝ ε −1.5 spectrum observed in the heliosheath. This indicates that magnetic reconnection alone is insufficient to explain the acceleration of energetic particles in the heliosheath.
Funding Information
  • DOE ∣ NNSA ∣ Los Alamos National Laboratory (20240477CR)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC21K1313)
  • U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration (89233218CNA000001)
  • National Science Foundation (2334932)

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