  The acceleration of protons and electrons in a reconnecting current sheet
(RCS) is simulated with a particle-in-cell (PIC) 2D3V code for the
proton-to-electron mass ratio of 100. The electro-magnetic configuration
forming the RCS incorporates all three components of the magnetic field
(including the guiding field) and a drifted electric field. PIC simulations
reveal that there is a polarisation electric field that appears during
acceleration owing to a separation of electrons from protons towards the
midplane of the RCS. If the plasma density is low, the polarisation field is
weak and the particle trajectories in the PIC simulations are similar to those
in the test particle (TP) approach. For the higher plasma density the
polarisation field is stronger and it affects the trajectories of protons by
increasing their orbits during acceleration. This field also leads to a less
asymmetrical abundances of ejected protons towards the midplane in comparison
with the TP approach. For a given magnetic topology electrons in PIC
simulations are ejected to the same semispace as protons, contrary to the TP
results. This happens because the polarisation field extends far beyond the
thickness of a current sheet. This field decelerates the electrons, which are
initially ejected into the semispace opposite to the protons, returns them back
to the RCS, and, eventually, leads to the electron ejection into the same
semispace as protons. Energy distribution of the ejected electrons is rather
wide and single-peak, contrary to the two-peak narrow-energy distribution
obtained in the TP approach. In the case of a strong guiding field, the mean
energy of the ejected electrons is found to be smaller than it is predicted
analytically and by the TP simulations.
