Related papers: In situ spacecraft observations of a structured el…
Magnetic reconnection is an explosive energy-release process in laboratory, space and astrophysical plasmas. While magnetic fields can `break' and `reconnect' in a very small region called the electron diffusion region (EDR), there have…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process that alters the magnetic field topology and releases magnetic energy. Most numerical simulations and spacecraft observations assume a two-dimensional diffusion region, with the electron…
We report in situ observations of an electron diffusion region (EDR) and adjacent separatrix region. We observe significant magnetic field oscillations near the lower hybrid frequency which propagate perpendicularly to the reconnection…
We have used the high-resolution data of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission dayside phase to identify twenty-one previously unreported encounters with the electron diffusion region (EDR), as evidenced by electron agyrotropy, ion…
A great possible achievement for the MMS mission would be crossing electron diffusion regions (EDR). EDR are regions in proximity of reconnection sites where electrons decouple from field lines, breaking the frozen in condition. Decades of…
We identify a dayside electron diffusion region (EDR) encountered by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission and estimate the terms in generalized Ohm's law that controlled energy conversion near the X-point. MMS crossed the…
In the standard model of magnetic reconnection, both ions and electrons couple to the newly reconnected magnetic field lines and are ejected away from the reconnection diffusion region in the form of bidirectional burst ion and electron…
Magnetic reconnection is an energy conversion process important in many astrophysical contexts including the Earth's magnetosphere, where the process can be investigated in-situ. Here we present the first encounter of a reconnection site by…
During magnetic reconnection, field lines interconnect in electron diffusion regions (EDRs). In some EDRs the reconnection and energy conversion rates are controlled by a steady out-of-plane electric field. In other EDRs the energy…
A new look at the structure of the electron diffusion region in collisionless magnetic reconnection is presented. The research is based on a particle-in-cell simulation of asymmetric magnetic reconnection, which include a temperature…
Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) encountered the primary low-latitude magnetopause reconnection site when the inter-spacecraft separation exceeded the upstream ion inertial length. Classical signatures of the ion diffusion region (IDR),…
The solar wind is a continuous outflow of charged particles from the Sun's atmosphere into the solar system. At Earth, the solar wind's outward pressure is balanced by the Earth's magnetic field in a boundary layer known as the…
We compare a global high resolution resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation of Earth's magnetosphere with observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) constellation for a southward IMF magnetopause crossing during October…
Magnrtic flux ropes (MFRs) play a crucial role during magnetic reconnection. They are believed to be primarily generated by tearing mode instabilities in the electron diffusion region (EDR). However, they have never been observed inside the…
Electron heating and mixing during asymmetric reconnection are studied with a 3D kinetic simulation that matches plasma parameters from Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft observations of a magnetopause diffusion region. The mixing…
Kinetic particle-in-cell simulations are used to identify signatures of the electron diffusion region (EDR) and its surroundings during asymmetric magnetic reconnection. A "shoulder" in the sunward pointing normal electric field (EN > 0) at…
Models for collisionless magnetic reconnection in near-Earth space are distinctly characterized as 2D or 3D. In 2D kinetic models, the frozen-in law for the electron fluid is usually broken by laminar dynamics involving structures set by…
Dayside magnetic reconnection allows for the transfer of the solar wind's energy into Earth's magnetosphere. This process takes place in electron diffusion regions (EDRs) embedded in ion diffusion regions (IDRs), which form in the…
We present detailed analysis of the turbulence observed in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause. The parameters are representative of an electron diffusion region encounter of the…
We analyze a high-resolution simulation of magnetopause reconnection observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission and explain the occurrence of strongly localized dissipation with an amplitude more than an order of magnitude…