| 1. |
- Catapano, Filomena, et al.
(författare)
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In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 908:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Processes driven by unsteady reconnection can efficiently accelerate particles in many astrophysical plasmas. An example is the reconnection jet fronts in an outflow region. We present evidence of suprathermal ion acceleration between two consecutive reconnection jet fronts observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the terrestrial magnetotail. An earthward propagating jet is approached by a second faster jet. Between the jets, the thermal ions are mostly perpendicular to magnetic field, are trapped, and are gradually accelerated in the parallel direction up to 150 keV. Observations suggest that ions are predominantly accelerated by a Fermi-like mechanism in the contracting magnetic bottle formed between the two jet fronts. The ion acceleration mechanism is presumably efficient in other environments where jet fronts produced by variable rates of reconnection are common and where the interaction of multiple jet fronts can also develop a turbulent environment, e.g., in stellar and solar eruptions.
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| 2. |
- Dimmock, Andrew P., et al.
(författare)
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Direct evidence of nonstationary collisionless shocks in space plasmas
- 2019
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Ingår i: Science Advances. - : AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE. - 2375-2548. ; 5:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Collisionless shocks are ubiquitous throughout the universe: around stars, supernova remnants, active galactic nuclei, binary systems, comets, and planets. Key information is carried by electromagnetic emissions from particles accelerated by high Mach number collisionless shocks. These shocks are intrinsically nonstationary, and the characteristic physical scales responsible for particle acceleration remain unknown. Quantifying these scales is crucial, as it affects the fundamental process of redistributing upstream plasma kinetic energy into other degrees of freedom-particularly electron thermalization. Direct in situ measurements of nonstationary shock dynamics have not been reported. Thus, the model that best describes this process has remained unknown. Here, we present direct evidence demonstrating that the transition to nonstationarity is associated with electron-scale field structures inside the shock ramp.
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| 3. |
- Eriksson, Elin, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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Electron Energization at a Reconnecting Magnetosheath Current Sheet
- 2018
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 45:16, s. 8081-8090
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present observations of electron energization within a sub-ion-scale magnetosheath current sheet (CS). A number of signatures indicate ongoing reconnection, including the thickness of the CS (similar to 0.7 ion inertial length), nonzero normal magnetic field, Hall magnetic fields with electrons carrying the Hall currents, and electron heating. We observe localized electron acceleration and heating parallel to the magnetic field at the edges of the CS. Electrostatic waves observed in these regions have low phase velocity and small wave potentials and thus cannot provide the observed acceleration and heating. Instead, we find that the electrons are accelerated by a parallel potential within the separatrix regions. Similar acceleration has been reported based on magnetopause and magnetotail observations. Thus, despite the different plasma conditions in magnetosheath, magnetopause, and magnetotail, the acceleration mechanism and corresponding heating of electrons is similar. Plain Language Summary Magnetic reconnection is an important physical energy conversion process in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. The easiest place to analyze magnetic reconnection is in near-Earth space. Due to lack of sufficient electron resolution of previous spacecraft missions, there are many unanswered questions regarding electron heating and acceleration processes at small scales. In particular, the regime where thermal pressure dominates over magnetic pressure, the most common state of plasmas in the Universe, is little explored. In this letter we study such a regime using the four-spacecraft Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. We analyze a reconnecting current sheet in the magnetosheath. We show that electrons are energized by a parallel potential, similar to what has been observed in the different plasma regimes the magnetopause and magnetotail. Thus, despite different plasma conditions, a similar acceleration mechanism and corresponding heating of electrons is occurring in all these regions.
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| 4. |
- Gingell, Imogen, et al.
(författare)
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MMS Observations and Hybrid Simulations of Surface Ripples at a Marginally Quasi-Parallel Shock
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - : AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 122:11, s. 11003-11017
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Simulations and observations of collisionless shocks have shown that deviations of the nominal local shock normal orientation, that is, surface waves or ripples, are expected to propagate in the ramp and overshoot of quasi-perpendicular shocks. Here we identify signatures of a surface ripple propagating during a crossing of Earth's marginally quasi-parallel (theta(Bn) similar to 45 degrees) or quasi-parallel bow shock on 27 November 2015 06: 01: 44 UTC by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission and determine the ripple's properties using multispacecraft methods. Using two-dimensional hybrid simulations, we confirm that surface ripples are a feature of marginally quasi-parallel and quasi-parallel shocks under the observed solar wind conditions. In addition, since these marginally quasi-parallel and quasi-parallel shocks are expected to undergo a cyclic reformation of the shock front, we discuss the impact of multiple sources of nonstationarity on shock structure. Importantly, ripples are shown to be transient phenomena, developing faster than an ion gyroperiod and only during the period of the reformation cycle when a newly developed shock ramp is unaffected by turbulence in the foot. We conclude that the change in properties of the ripple observed by MMS is consistent with the reformation of the shock front over a time scale of an ion gyroperiod.
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| 5. |
- Johlander, Andreas, 1990-, et al.
(författare)
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Shock ripples observed by the MMS spacecraft : ion reflection and dispersive properties
- 2018
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Ingår i: Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion. - : IOP Publishing. - 0741-3335 .- 1361-6587. ; 60
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Shock ripples are ion-inertial-scale waves propagating within the front region of magnetized quasi-perpendicular collisionless shocks. The ripples are thought to influence particle dynamics and acceleration at shocks. With the four magnetospheric multiscale (MMS) spacecraft, it is for the first time possible to fully resolve the small scale ripples in space. We use observations of one slow crossing of the Earth's non-stationary bow shock by MMS. From multi-spacecraft measurements we show that the non-stationarity is due to ripples propagating along the shock surface. We find that the ripples are near linearly polarized waves propagating in the coplanarity plane with a phase speed equal to the local Alfvén speed and have a wavelength close to 5 times the upstream ion inertial length. The dispersive properties of the ripples resemble those of Alfvén ion cyclotron waves in linear theory. Taking advantage of the slow crossing by the four MMS spacecraft, we map the shock-reflected ions as a function of ripple phase and distance from the shock. We find that ions are preferentially reflected in regions of the wave with magnetic field stronger than the average overshoot field, while in the regions of lower magnetic field, ions penetrate the shock to the downstream region.
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| 6. |
- Lalti, Ahmad, et al.
(författare)
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Whistler Waves in the Foot of Quasi-Perpendicular Supercritical Shocks
- 2022
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 127:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Whistler waves are thought to play an essential role in the dynamics of collisionless shocks. We use the magnetospheric multiscale spacecraft to study whistler waves around the lower hybrid frequency, upstream of 11 quasi-perpendicular supercritical shocks. We apply the 4-spacecraft timing method to unambiguously determine the wave vector k of whistler waves. We find that the waves are oblique to the background magnetic field with a wave-normal angle between 20 degrees and 42 degrees, and a wavelength of around 100 km, which is close to the ion inertial length. We also find that k is predominantly in the same plane as the magnetic field and the normal to the shock. By combining this precise knowledge of k with high-resolution measurements of the 3D ion velocity distribution, we show that a reflected ion beam is in resonance with the waves, opening up the possibility for wave-particle interaction between the reflected ions and the observed whistlers. The linear stability analysis of a system mimicking the observed distribution suggests that such a system can produce the observed waves.
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| 7. |
- Lee, Justin H., et al.
(författare)
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MMS Measurements and Modeling of Peculiar Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves
- 2019
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - : AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Orbiting Earth's dayside outer magnetosphere on 29 September 2015, the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites measured plasma composition, simultaneous electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves, and intermittent fast plasma flows consistent with ultralow frequency waves or convection. Such flows can accelerate typically unobservable low-energy plasma into a measurable energy range of spacecraft plasma instrumentation. We exploit the flow occurrence to ensure measurement of cold ion species alongside the hot particles-consisting of ionospheric heavy ions and solar wind He++-during a subinterval of wave emissions with spectral properties previously described as peculiar. Through application of the composition and multisatellite wave vector data to linear theory, we demonstrate the emissions are in fact consistent with theory, growing naturally in the He++ band with sufficient free energy.
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| 8. |
- Nakamura, Rumi, et al.
(författare)
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Multiscale Currents Observed by MMS in the Flow Braking Region
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - : AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 123:2, s. 1260-1278
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present characteristics of current layers in the off-equatorial near-Earth plasma sheet boundary observed with high time-resolution measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission during an intense substorm associated with multiple dipolarizations. The four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft, separated by distances of about 50 km, were located in the southern hemisphere in the dusk portion of a substorm current wedge. They observed fast flow disturbances (up to about 500 km/s), most intense in the dawn-dusk direction. Field-aligned currents were observed initially within the expanding plasma sheet, where the flow and field disturbances showed the distinct pattern expected in the braking region of localized flows. Subsequently, intense thin field-aligned current layers were detected at the inner boundary of equatorward moving flux tubes together with Earthward streaming hot ions. Intense Hall current layers were found adjacent to the field-aligned currents. In particular, we found a Hall current structure in the vicinity of the Earthward streaming ion jet that consisted of mixed ion components, that is, hot unmagnetized ions, cold ExB drifting ions, and magnetized electrons. Our observations show that both the near-Earth plasma jet diversion and the thin Hall current layers formed around the reconnection jet boundary are the sites where diversion of the perpendicular currents take place that contribute to the observed field-aligned current pattern as predicted by simulations of reconnection jets. Hence, multiscale structure of flow braking is preserved in the field-aligned currents in the off-equatorial plasma sheet and is also translated to ionosphere to become a part of the substorm field-aligned current system.
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| 9. |
- Nakamura, Rumi, et al.
(författare)
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Near-Earth plasma sheet boundary dynamics during substorm dipolarization
- 2017
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Ingår i: Earth Planets and Space. - : Springer Berlin/Heidelberg. - 1343-8832 .- 1880-5981. ; 69
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the large-scale evolution of dipolarization in the near-Earth plasma sheet during an intense (AL similar to -1000 nT) substorm on August 10, 2016, when multiple spacecraft at radial distances between 4 and 15 RE were present in the night-side magnetosphere. This global dipolarization consisted of multiple short-timescale (a couple of minutes) Bz disturbances detected by spacecraft distributed over 9 MLT, consistent with the large-scale substorm current wedge observed by ground-based magnetometers. The four spacecraft of the Magnetospheric Multiscale were located in the southern hemisphere plasma sheet and observed fast flow disturbances associated with this dipolarization. The high-time-resolution measurements from MMS enable us to detect the rapid motion of the field structures and flow disturbances separately. A distinct pattern of the flow and field disturbance near the plasma boundaries was found. We suggest that a vortex motion created around the localized flows resulted in another fieldaligned current system at the off-equatorial side of the BBF-associated R1/R2 systems, as was predicted by the MHD simulation of a localized reconnection jet. The observations by GOES and Geotail, which were located in the opposite hemisphere and local time, support this view. We demonstrate that the processes of both Earthward flow braking and of accumulated magnetic flux evolving tailward also control the dynamics in the boundary region of the near-Earth plasma sheet.
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| 10. |
- Pan, Dong-Xiao, et al.
(författare)
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Rippled Electron-Scale Structure of a Dipolarization Front
- 2018
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 45:22, s. 12116-12124
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We use the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission to investigate electron-scale structures at a dipolarization front. The four spacecraft are separated by electron scales and observe large differences in plasma and field parameters within the dipolarization front, indicating strong deviation from typically assumed plane or slightly curved front surface. We attribute this to ripples generated by the lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI) with wave number of k(rho e)similar or equal to 0.4 and maximum wave potential of similar to 1 kV similar to k(B)T(e). Power law-like spectra of E-perpendicular to with slope of -3 indicates the turbulent cascade of LHDI. LHDI is observed together with bursty high-frequency parallel electric fields, suggesting coupling of LHDI to higher-frequency electrostatic waves. Plain Language Summary Dipolarization fronts (DFs) are narrow boundaries with sharp enhancement of magnetic field, located at the leading part of fast plasma jets observed in Earth's magnetotail. DFs are typically assumed to be smooth boundaries at scales comparable to the ion gyroradius and below. In this study, we use the four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft separated by several electron gyroradii to investigate fine structure of a DF. Surprisingly, we observe significant differences in the fields and plasma measurements between the spacecraft despite their small separation. We attribute these signatures to electron-scale disturbances propagating along the DF surface, and thus the DF surface is not smooth as expected but rather rippled. The ripples develop as a result of a plasma instability driven by the strong inhomogeneities present at the DF. The fact that the ripples have such small scales means that they can effectively interact with plasma electrons.
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