Nonlinear evolution and secondary island formation of the double tearing mode in a hybrid simulation

Abstract Double tearing modes (DTMs), induced by double current sheet configurations or two neighboring rational surfaces with the same safety factor in tokamaks, are widely observed in solar, space, and fusion plasmas. In this paper, the evolution of DTMs without a guide field is investigated numerically using a hybrid model (electron fluid + ion PIC). The overall evolution processes of DTMs are qualitatively consistent with previous works using other models. The particle dynamics during the evolution of DTMs is analyzed in detail. Behaviors of ions and electrons present different characteristics around the reconnection region which gives rise to Hall effects producing the out-of-plane quadrupole magnetic field. In the explosive reconnection process with interactions between two DTMs islands, the asymmetric drive and the thin current layer feature lead to the emergence of secondary magnetic islands which develop with the late evolution of the DTMs.