Scaling of the inner electron diffusion region in collisionless magnetic reconnection

The Sweet-Parker analysis of the inner electron diffusion region of collisionless magnetic reconnection is presented. The study includes charged particles motion near the X-line and an appropriate approximation of the off-diagonal term for the electron pressure tensor. The obtained scaling shows that the width of the inner electron diffusion region is equal to the electron inertial length, and that electrons are accelerated up to the electron Alfven velocity in X-line direction. The estimated effective plasma conductivity is based on the electron gyrofrequency rather than the binary collision frequency, and gives the extreme (minimal) value of the plasma conductivity similar to Bohm diffusion. The scaling properties are verified by means of Particle-in-Cell simulations. An ad hoc parameter needs to be introduced to the scaling relations in order to better match the theory and simulations.