Nonthermal Particle Acceleration in 3D Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in Pair Plasma

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that converts magnetic energy into particle kinetic energy. ``Relativistic'' reconnection is of interest in astrophysical contexts because it can accelerate particles to relativistic energies high enough for synchrotron (or inverse Compton) emission to explain observed high-energy radiation. After several 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations of reconnection in pair plasmas demonstrated power-law electron-energy spectra extending to high energies, a few 3D simulations surprisingly confirmed the robustness of nonthermal particle acceleration, despite fundamental differences, such as the development of the relativistic drift-kink instability (RDKI) in 3D. We present a comprehensive PIC study of 3D relativistic pair-plasma reconnection characterizing the effect of the third dimension. We investigate how reconnection dynamics and particle acceleration depend on guide magnetic field $B_z$ and on the simulation box length $L_z$ in the third dimension. We find that, while the RDKI does indeed grow in 3D reconnection, it does not inhibit particle acceleration, even in the absence of guide field.