Role of Dispersive Waves in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

Simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection show a dramatic enhancement of the nonlinear reconnection rate due to the formation of an open outflow region. We link the formation of this open configuration to dispersive whistler and kinetic Alfvén wave dynamics at small scales. The roles of these two waves are controlled by two dimensionless parameters, which allow us to identify regions of fast and slow reconnection.