Signatures of Phase Space Energy Transfer in 2-D Strong Guide Field Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection using Field-Particle Correlations

Magnetic reconnection plays an important role in the energization of particles in collisionless plasmas. We apply an established field-particle correlation technique to explore the energization of ions and electrons in collisionless magnetic reconnection simulations. The goal is to determine the characteristic velocity-space signatures of energy transfer in a collisionless plasma due to magnetic reconnection using single-point measurements of the electromagnetic fields and particle velocity distributions. We compare signatures of kinetic energization in phase space to density and field profiles at specific spatial locations. The comparisons and characterization of energy outflows due to magnetic reconnection will help in understanding the impact of this phenomena on collisionless plasma energization. This work utilizes a diagnostic suite developed to analyze field-particle correlations from the gyrokinetic simulation code AstroGK. Understanding the phase-space energy budget and phenomenological signatures in single point measurements may provide novel insight into kinetic plasma energy transfer. These signatures offer new ways to guide design of spacecraft measurement techniques to identify particle energization due to magnetic reconnection.