Research

Curriculum Vitae (PDF version)

Education
04/1995 - 03/1999 Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Japan
04/1999 - 03/2001 Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan (M. S.)
04/2001 - 03/2006 Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Japan
07/2006 Ph. D. in Space Physics (Title: "High-energy particle acceleration and magnetic field dissipation in the plasma sheets of celestial magnetospheres", Adviser: Prof. M. Hoshino)
Employment
04/2003 - 03/2005 Research Fellowships for Young Scientists, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
04/2005 - 03/2006 Software Engineer, Technology Division, Internet Initiative Japan Inc.
04/2006 - 03/2007 Researcher, Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
11/2006 - 04/2007 Visiting Research Associate, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (University of Maryland Baltimore County, Goddard Earth Sciences & Technology Center)
04/2007 - 04/2010 Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA Postdoctoral Program at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
04/2010 - 09/2011 Postdoctoral Fellow, JSPS Fellowship for Research Abroad at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (University of Maryland Baltimore County, Goddard Earth Sciences & Technology Center)
09/2011 - 03/2012 Research Assistant Professor, Division of Theoretical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
04/2012 - 03/2017 Research Assistant Professor (NAOJ fellow), Division of Theoretical Astronomy, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
04/2017 - 03/2019 Researcher, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University
06/2018 - 03/2019 Designated Lecturer, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University
04/2019 - 03/2023 Associate Professor, Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, Kobe University
05/2019 - 03/2023 Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University
04/2023 - 03/2029 Scientist, Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences

Research interests

I am interested in magnetic reconnection and its role in space and astrophysical plasmas. The numbers refer to relevant papers in the publication list. I have served as a reviewer for the boldfaced topics.

Publications

Refereed Journals (First Author)
  1. S. Zenitani and M. Hoshino (2001),
    "The Generation of Nonthermal Particles in Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection of Pair Plasmas",
    Astrophysical Journal Letters, 562, L63-L66 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  2. S. Zenitani and M. Hoshino (2005a),
    "Relativistic Particle Acceleration in a Folded Current Sheet",
    Astrophysical Journal Letters, 618, L111-L114 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  3. S. Zenitani and M. Hoshino (2005b),
    "Three-Dimensional Evolution of a Relativistic Current Sheet: Triggering of Magnetic Reconnection by the Guide Field",
    Physical Review Letters, 95, 095001 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  4. S. Zenitani and M. Hoshino (2007),
    "Particle Acceleration and Magnetic Dissipation in Relativistic Current Sheet of Pair Plasmas",
    Astrophysical Journal, 670, 702-726 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  5. S. Zenitani and M. Hoshino (2008),
    "The Role of the Guide Field in Relativistic Pair Plasma Reconnection",
    Astrophysical Journal, 677, 530-544 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  6. S. Zenitani and M. Hesse (2008a),
    "The role of the Weibel instability at the reconnection jet front in relativistic pair plasma reconnection",
    Physics of Plasmas, 15, 022101 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  7. S. Zenitani and M. Hesse (2008b),
    "Self-regulation of the Reconnecting Current Layer in Relativistic Pair Plasma Reconnection",
    Astrophysical Journal, 684, 1477-1485 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  8. S. Zenitani, M. Hesse, and A. Klimas (2009a),
    "Two-fluid Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection",
    Astrophysical Journal, 696, 1385-1401 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  9. S. Zenitani, M. Hesse, and A. Klimas (2009b),
    "Relativistic Two-fluid Simulations of Guide Field Magnetic Reconnection",
    Astrophysical Journal, 705, 907-913 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  10. S. Zenitani, M. Hesse, and A. Klimas (2010a),
    "Scaling of the Anomalous Boost in Relativistic Jet Boundary Layer",
    Astrophysical Journal, 712, 951-956 (ADS, arXiv, supplementary items & errata)
  11. S. Zenitani, M. Hesse, and A. Klimas (2010b),
    "Resistive Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection",
    Astrophysical Journal Letters, 716, L214-L218 (ADS, arXiv, Movies & errata)
  12. S. Zenitani and T. Miyoshi (2011),
    "Magnetohydrodynamic structure of a plasmoid in fast reconnection in low-beta plasmas",
    Physics of Plasmas, 18, 022105 (ADS, arXiv, supplementary items) -- Phys. Plasmas: The 3 most read articles in Oct. 2014
  13. S. Zenitani, M. Hesse, A. Klimas, and M. Kuznetsova (2011a),
    "New Measure of the Dissipation Region in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection",
    Physical Review Letters, 106, 195003 (ADS, arXiv, errata)
  14. S. Zenitani, M. Hesse, A. Klimas, C. Black, and M. Kuznetsova (2011b),
    "The inner structure of collisionless magnetic reconnection: The electron-frame dissipation measure and Hall fields",
    Physics of Plasmas, 18, 122108 (ADS, arXiv, errata) -- Phys. Plasmas: Featured Article in Dec. 2011
  15. S. Zenitani, I. Shinohara, and T. Nagai (2012),
    "Evidence for the dissipation region in magnetotail reconnection",
    Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L11102 (ADS, arXiv)
  16. S. Zenitani, I. Shinohara, T. Nagai, and T. Wada (2013),
    "Kinetic aspects of the ion current layer in a reconnection outflow exhaust",
    Physics of Plasmas, 20, 092120 (ADS, arXiv, errata & supplementary items)
  17. S. Zenitani and T. Umeda (2014),
    "Some remarks on the diffusion regions in magnetic reconnection",
    Physics of Plasmas, 21, 034503 (ADS, arXiv)
  18. S. Zenitani (2015a),
    "Magnetohydrodynamic structure of a plasmoid in fast reconnection in low-beta plasmas: Shock-shock interactions",
    Physics of Plasmas, 22, 032114 (ADS, arXiv, supplementary items)
  19. S. Zenitani (2015b),
    "Loading relativistic Maxwell distributions in particle simulations",
    Physics of Plasmas, 22, 042116 (ADS, arXiv) -- Phys. Plasmas: Most Read Articles from April-June in 2015
  20. S. Zenitani and T. Nagai (2016),
    "Particle dynamics in the electron current layer in collisionless magnetic reconnection",
    Physics of Plasmas, 23, 102102 (ADS, arXiv, errata & supplementary items) -- News Release by American Institute of Physics
  21. S. Zenitani, H. Hasegawa, and T. Nagai (2017),
    "Electron dynamics surrounding the X-line in asymmetric magnetic reconnection",
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 122, 7396 (ADS, arXiv, supplementary items)
  22. S. Zenitani (2018),
    "Dissipation in relativistic pair-plasma reconnection: revisited",
    Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 60, 014028 (ADS, arXiv) -- Invited paper at 44th EPS Conference on Plasma Physics
  23. S. Zenitani and T. Umeda (2018),
    "On the Boris solver in particle-in-cell simulation",
    Physics of Plasmas, 25, 112110 (ADS, arXiv)
  24. S. Zenitani and T. N. Kato (2020),
    "Multiple Boris integrators for particle-in-cell simulation",
    Computer Physics Communications, 247, 106954 (ADS, arXiv)
  25. S. Zenitani and T. Miyoshi (2020),
    "Plasmoid-dominated Turbulent Reconnection in a Low-β Plasma",
    Astrophysical Journal Letters, 894, L7 (arXiv, ADS, supplementary items)
  26. S. Zenitani and S. Nakano (2022),
    "Loading a relativistic Kappa distribution in particle simulations",
    Physics of Plasmas, 29, 113904 (ADS, arXiv)
  27. S. Zenitani and S. Nakano (2023),
    "Loading Loss-Cone Distributions in Particle Simulations",
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 128, e2023JA031983 (ADS, arXiv, zenodo)
  28. S. Zenitani and T. N. Kato (2023),
    "Hyper Boris integrators for plasma simulation",
    submitted to Physics of Plasmas
Refereed Journals (Co-author)
  1. M. Hesse and S. Zenitani (2007),
    "Dissipation in relativistic pair-plasma reconnection",
    Physics of Plasmas, 14, 112102 (ADS)
  2. A. Klimas, M. Hesse, and S. Zenitani (2008),
    "Particle-in-cell simulation of collisionless reconnection with open outflow boundaries",
    Physics of Plasmas, 15, 082102 (ADS)
  3. M. Hesse, S. Zenitani, and A. Klimas (2008),
    "The structure of the electron outflow jet in collisionless magnetic reconnection",
    Physics of Plasmas, 15, 112102 (ADS)
  4. M. Hesse, S. Zenitani, M. Kuznetsova, and A. Klimas (2009),
    "A simple, analytical model of collisionless magnetic reconnection in a pair plasma",
    Physics of Plasmas, 16, 102106 (ADS, errata)
  5. A. Klimas, M. Hesse, S. Zenitani, and M. Kuznetsova (2010),
    "Particle-in-cell simulation of collisionless driven reconnection with open boundaries",
    Physics of Plasmas, 17, 112904 (ADS)
  6. M. Hesse, T. Neukirch, K. Schindler, M. Kuznetsova, and S. Zenitani (2011),
    "The Diffusion Region in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection",
    Space Science Reviews, 106, 3 (ADS, errata)
  7. M. Hesse, J. Birn, and S. Zenitani (2011),
    "Magnetic reconnection in a compressible MHD plasma",
    Physics of Plasmas, 18, 042104 (ADS)
  8. J. Birn, M. Hesse, and S. Zenitani (2011),
    "Reconnection in compressible plasmas: Extended conversion region",
    Physics of Plasmas, 18, 111202 (ADS)
  9. A. Klimas, M. Hesse, and S. Zenitani (2012),
    "Particle-in-cell simulation of collisionless undriven reconnection with open boundaries",
    Physics of Plasmas, 19, 042901 (ADS)
  10. N. Aunai, M. Hesse, S. Zenitani, M. Kuznetsova, C. Black, R. Evans, and R. Smets (2013),
    "Comparison between hybrid and fully kinetic models of asymmetric magnetic reconnection: coplanar and guide field configurations",
    Physics of Plasmas, 20, 022902 (ADS, arXiv)
  11. T. Nagai, I. Shinohara, S. Zenitani, R. Nakamura, T. Nakamura, M. Fujimoto, Y. Saito, and T. Mukai (2013a),
    "Three-dimensional structure of magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail from Geotail observations",
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 118, 1667 (ADS)
  12. M. Hesse, N. Aunai, S. Zenitani, M. Kuznetsova, and J. Birn (2013),
    "Aspects of collisionless magnetic reconnection in asymmetric systems",
    Physics of Plasmas, 20, 061210 (ADS)
  13. H. Baty, J. Pétri, and S. Zenitani (2013),
    "Explosive reconnection of double tearing modes in relativistic plasmas: application to the Crab flares",
    MNRAS Letters, 436, L20 (ADS, arXiv)
  14. T. Nagai, S. Zenitani, I. Shinohara, R. Nakamura, M. Fujimoto, Y. Saito, and T. Mukai (2013b),
    "Ion and electron dynamics in the ion-electron decoupling region of magnetic reconnection with Geotail observations",
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 118, 7703 (ADS)
  15. J. Pétri, M. Takamoto, H. Baty, and S. Zenitani (2015),
    "Explosive reconnection of double tearing modes in relativistic plasmas with application to the Crab nebula",
    Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 57, 014034 (ADS)
  16. T. Nagai, I. Shinohara, and S. Zenitani (2015a),
    "Ion acceleration processes in magnetic reconnection: Geotail observations in the magnetotail",
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 120, 1766 (ADS)
  17. T. Nagai, I. Shinohara, and S. Zenitani (2015b),
    "The dawn-dusk length of the X line in the near-Earth magnetotail: Geotail survey in 1994-2014",
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 120, 8762 (ADS)
  18. M. Hesse, N. Aunai, J. Birn, P. Cassak, R. E. Denton, J. F. Drake, T. Gombosi, M. Hoshino, W. Matthaeus, D. Sibeck, and S. Zenitani (2016),
    "Theory and Modeling for the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission",
    Space Science Reviews, 199, 577 (ADS)
  19. H. Hasegawa, N. Kitamura, Y. Saito, ... S. Zenitani et al. (25th/26 author) (2016),
    "Decay of mesoscale flux transfer events during quasi-continuous spatially-extended reconnection at the magnetopause",
    Geophysical Research Letters, 43, 4755 (ADS)
  20. T. K. M. Nakamura, S. Eriksson, H. Hasegawa, S. Zenitani, W. Li, K. Genestreti, R. Nakamura, and W. Daughton (2017),
    "Mass and energy transfer across the Earth's magnetopause caused by the vortex-induced reconnection",
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 122, 11505 (ADS)
  21. T. Shimizu, K. Kondoh, and S. Zenitani (2017),
    "Numerical MHD study for plasmoid instability in uniform resistivity",
    Physics of Plasmas, 24, 112117 (ADS)
  22. M. Hosseinpour, Y. Chen, and S. Zenitani (2018),
    "On the effect of parallel shear flow on the plasmoid instability",
    Physics of Plasmas, 25, 102117 (ADS)
  23. Y. Matsumoto, Y. Asahina, Y. Kudoh, T. Kawashima, J. Matsumoto, H. R. Takahashi, T. Minoshima, S. Zenitani, T. Miyoshi, and R. Matsumoto (2019),
    "Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation Code CANS+: Assessments and Applications",
    Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan, 71, 83 (ADS)
  24. W.-L. Teh and S. Zenitani (2019),
    "Thermodynamic Properties of Mirror Structures in the Magnetosheath: MMS Observations and Double-Polytropic MHD Simulations",
    Astrophysical Journal, 885, 22 (ADS)
  25. W.-L. Teh and S. Zenitani (2020),
    "Thermodynamics of Dipolarization Fronts of Magnetic Reconnection in Anisotropic Plasma: MMS Observations and Resistive Double-polytropic MHD Simulations",
    Astrophysical Journal, 890, 114 (ADS)
  26. W.-L. Teh and S. Zenitani (2021),
    "Two-Dimensional Reconstruction of a Time-Dependent Mirror Structure from Double-Polytropic MHD simulation",
    Earth and Space Science, 8, e2020EA001449 (ADS)
  27. G. Ueno and S. Zenitani (2021),
    "Relativistic Maxwellian mixture model",
    Physics of Plasmas, 28, 122106 (ADS)
  28. T. K. M. Nakamura, W.-L. Teh, S. Zenitani, T. Umeda, M. Oka, H. Hasegawa, A. Veronig, and R. Nakamura (2023),
    "Spatial and time scaling of coalescing multiple magnetic islands",
    Physics of Plasmas, 30, 022902 (ADS)
  29. W.-L. Teh, T. K. M. Nakamura, S. Zenitani, T. Umeda, and R. Nakamura (2023),
    "New aspects of energy conversion in magnetic island dynamics: particle-in-cell simulation of multiple island coalescence and MMS observations",
    Astrophysical Journal, 947, 4 (ADS)
  30. S. Totorica, S. Zenitani, M. Machida, S. Matsukiyo, K. Sekiguchi, and A. Bhattacharjee (2023),
    "Exact Calculation of Nonideal Fields Demonstrates Dominance of Injection in Relativistic Reconnection",
    Astrophysical Journal Letters, 952, L1 (ADS)
  31. S. Usami and S. Zenitani (2024),
    "Three-dimensional crescent-shaped ion velocity distributions created by magnetic reconnection in the presence of a guide field",
    Physics of Plasmas, 31, 022102 (ADS)
  32. H. Hasegawa, M. R. Argall, ..., and S. Zenitani (36th/36 author) (2024),
    "Advanced Methods for Analyzing In-Situ Observations of Magnetic Reconnection",
    submitted to Space Science Reviews (ADS, arXiv)
  33. F. Guo, Y.-H. Liu, S. Zenitani, and M. Hoshino (2024),
    "Magnetic Reconnection and Associated Particle Acceleration in High-energy Astrophysics",
    submitted to Space Science Reviews (ADS, arXiv)
  34. R. Nakamura et al. (2024),
    "TBD",
    to be submitted to Space Science Reviews
Conference Proceedings and Book Chapters (peer-reviewed)
  1. S. Zenitani, M. Hesse, and A. Klimas (2011),
    "Fluid and Magnetofluid Modeling of Relativistic Magnetic Reconnection",
    AIP Conference Proceeding, 1366, 138 (ADS, arXiv)   (error corrected in the arXiv preprint)
  2. M. Hesse, N. Aunai, M. Kuznetsova, S. Zenitani, and J. Birn (2015),
    "Magnetic Reconnection in Different Environments: Similarities and Differences",
    AGU Geophysical Monograph, 207, 259 (ADS)
  3. I. Shinohara, M. Fujimoto, T. Nagai, S. Zenitani, and H. Kojima (2016),
    "Low-frequency Waves in the Tail Reconnection Region",
    AGU Geophysical Monograph, 216, 181 (ADS)
  4. M. Yamada, J. Yoo, and S. Zenitani (2016),
    "Energy conversion and inventory of a prototypical magnetic reconnection layer",
    Astrophysics and Space Science Library, 427, 143 (ADS)
Other articles
Other articles in Japanese language

Presentations at International Meetings

Figures & Movies

  1. Relativistic magnetic reconnection
  2. Particle acceleration and fast field dissipation by the relativistic drift kink instability
  3. 3D evolution of a relativistic current sheet
  4. Weibel instability in relativistic magnetic reconnection
  5. Magnetic reconnection in a collisionless kinetic regime
  6. Asymmetric reconnection
  7. Magnetic reconnection in nonrelativistic low-beta MHD plasmas
  8. Kelvin-Helmholtz instability
  9. Other materials