| 1. |
- Phan, T. D., et al.
(författare)
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Electron magnetic reconnection without ion coupling in Earth's turbulent magnetosheath
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 557:7704, s. 202-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Magnetic reconnection in current sheets is a magnetic-to-particle energy conversion process that is fundamental to many space and laboratory plasma systems. In the standard model of reconnection, this process occurs in a minuscule electron-scale diffusion region(1,2). On larger scales, ions couple to the newly reconnected magnetic-field lines and are ejected away from the diffusion region in the form of bi-directional ion jets at the ion Alfven speed(3-5). Much of the energy conversion occurs in spatially extended ion exhausts downstream of the diffusion region(6). In turbulent plasmas, which contain a large number of small-scale current sheets, reconnection has long been suggested to have a major role in the dissipation of turbulent energy at kinetic scales(7-11). However, evidence for reconnection plasma jetting in small-scale turbulent plasmas has so far been lacking. Here we report observations made in Earth's turbulent magnetosheath region (downstream of the bow shock) of an electron-scale current sheet in which diverging bi-directional super-ion-Alfvenic electron jets, parallel electric fields and enhanced magnetic-to-particle energy conversion were detected. Contrary to the standard model of reconnection, the thin reconnecting current sheet was not embedded in a wider ion-scale current layer and no ion jets were detected. Observations of this and other similar, but unidirectional, electron jet events without signatures of ion reconnection reveal a form of reconnection that can drive turbulent energy transfer and dissipation in electron-scale current sheets without ion coupling.
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| 2. |
- Eastwood, J. P., et al.
(författare)
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Guide Field Reconnection : Exhaust Structure and Heating
- 2018
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - : AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 45:10, s. 4569-4577
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Magnetospheric Multiscale observations are used to probe the structure and temperature profile of a guide field reconnection exhaust similar to 100 ion inertial lengths downstream from the X-line in the Earth's magnetosheath. Asymmetric Hall electric and magnetic field signatures were detected, together with a density cavity confined near 1 edge of the exhaust and containing electron flow toward the X-line. Electron holes were also detected both on the cavity edge and at the Hall magnetic field reversal. Predominantly parallel ion and electron heating was observed in the main exhaust, but within the cavity, electron cooling and enhanced parallel ion heating were found. This is explained in terms of the parallel electric field, which inhibits electron mixing within the cavity on newly reconnected field lines but accelerates ions. Consequently, guide field reconnection causes inhomogeneous changes in ion and electron temperature across the exhaust.
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| 3. |
- Kacem, I., et al.
(författare)
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Magnetic Reconnection at a Thin Current Sheet Separating Two Interlaced Flux Tubes at the Earth's Magnetopause
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 123:3, s. 1779-1793
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The occurrence of spatially and temporally variable reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause leads to the complex interaction of magnetic fields from the magnetosphere and magnetosheath. Flux transfer events (FTEs) constitute one such type of interaction. Their main characteristics are (1) an enhanced core magnetic field magnitude and (2) a bipolar magnetic field signature in the component normal to the magnetopause, reminiscent of a large-scale helicoidal flux tube magnetic configuration. However, other geometrical configurations which do not fit this classical picture have also been observed. Using high-resolution measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, we investigate an event in the vicinity of the Earth's magnetopause on 7 November 2015. Despite signatures that, at first glance, appear consistent with a classic FTE, based on detailed geometrical and dynamical analyses as well as on topological signatures revealed by suprathermal electron properties, we demonstrate that this event is not consistent with a single, homogenous helicoidal structure. Our analysis rather suggests that it consists of the interaction of two separate sets of magnetic field lines with different connectivities. This complex three-dimensional interaction constructively conspires to produce signatures partially consistent with that of an FTE. We also show that, at the interface between the two sets of field lines, where the observed magnetic pileup occurs, a thin and strong current sheet forms with a large ion jet, which may be consistent with magnetic flux dissipation through magnetic reconnection in the interaction region.
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| 4. |
- Hietala, H., et al.
(författare)
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In Situ Observations of a Magnetosheath High-Speed Jet Triggering Magnetopause Reconnection
- 2018
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Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 45:4, s. 1732-1740
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Magnetosheath high-speed jets-localized dynamic pressure enhancements typically of similar to 1 Earth radius in size-impact the dayside magnetopause several times per hour. Here we present the first in situ measurements suggesting that such an impact triggered magnetopause reconnection. We use observations from the five Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms spacecraft in a string-of-pearls configuration on 7 August 2007. The spacecraft recorded magnetopause in-and-out motion during an impact of a magnetosheath jet (V-N similar to -300km/s along the magnetopause normal direction). There was no evidence for reconnection for the preimpact crossing, yet three probes observed reconnection after the impact. We infer that the jet impact compressed the originally thick (60-70 d(i)), high magnetic shear (140-160 degrees magnetopause until it was thin enough for reconnection to occur. Magnetosheath high-speed jets could therefore act as a driver for bursty dayside reconnection.
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