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Using 3D particle-in-cell simulation, we characterize energy conversion, as afunction of guide magnetic field, in a thin current sheet in semirelativisticplasma, with relativistic electrons and subrelativistic protons. There,magnetic reconnection, the drift-kink instability (DKI), and the flux-rope kinkinstability all compete and interact in their nonlinear stages to convertmagnetic energy to plasma energy. We compare fully 3D simulations with 2D intwo different planes to isolate reconnection and DKI effects. In zero guidefield, these processes yield distinct energy conversion signatures: ions gainmore energy than electrons in 2Dxy (reconnection), while the opposite is truein 2Dyz (DKI), and the 3D result falls in between. The flux-rope instability,which occurs only in 3D, allows more magnetic energy to be released than in 2D,but the rate of energy conversion in 3D tends to be lower. Increasing the guidemagnetic field strongly suppresses DKI, and in all cases slows and reduces theoverall amount of energy conversion; it also favors electron energizationthrough a process by which energy is first stored in the motional electricfield of flux ropes before energizing particles. Understanding the evolution ofthe energy partition thus provides insight into the role of various plasmaprocesses, and is important for modeling radiation from astrophysical sourcessuch as accreting black holes and their jets.

Electron and proton energization in 3D reconnecting current sheets in semirelativistic plasma with guide magnetic field