Onset of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in the Presence of Shear Flows and a Guide Field

Onset of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection in the presence of Shear Flows It has been shown in classical tearing theory that shear flows will slow the linear phase and can delay onset of magnetic reconnection. We show using kinetic particle in cell simulations that shear flow as well as guide field strength affect the onset time of relativistic magnetic reconnection. To model this we develop a numerical solver for the growth rate of the relativistic linear tearing instability as a function of shear flow and guide field, including effects of the electric field which has not previously been included. At Superalfvenic speeds we may also use the solver to examine relativistic Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.