First-principles modeling of ion acoustic turbulence in collisionless reconnection

Using fully kinetic simulations, we investigate magnetic reconnection across a range of initial ion-to-electron temperature ratios. When the ions start substantially colder than the electrons, we observe the emergence of ion-acoustic waves in the diffusion region. These fluctuations predominantly channel energy into ion heating, while producing only negligible anomalous resistivity—contrary to earlier studies. These results shed light on how ion‑acoustic turbulence shapes reconnection dynamics in collisionless plasmas.