Related papers: Configuration of magnetotail current sheet prior t…
Many in-situ spacecraft observations have demonstrated that magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail is largely controlled by the pre-reconnection current sheet configuration. One of the most important thin current sheet…
We analyze a magnetotail reconnection onset event on 3 July 2017 that was observed under otherwise quiescent magnetospheric conditions by a fortuitous conjunction of six space and ground-based observatories. The study investigates the…
One of the most important problems of magnetotail dynamics is the substorm onset and the related instability of the magneotail current sheet. Since the simplest 2D current sheet configuration with monotonic $B_z$ was proven to be stable to…
Magnetic field line reconnection is a universal plasma process responsible for the magnetic field topology change and magnetic field energy dissipation into charged particle heating and acceleration. In many systems, the conditions leading…
The recent realization that Sweet-Parker current sheets are violently unstable to the secondary tearing (plasmoid) instability implies that such current sheets cannot occur in real systems. This suggests that, in order to understand the…
The magnetotail current sheet's spatial configuration and stability control the onset of magnetic reconnection - the driving process for magnetospheric substorms. The near-Earth current sheet has been thoroughly investigated by numerous…
Magnetospheric substorms are preceded by a slow growth phase of magnetic flux loading and current sheet thinning in the tail. Extensive datasets have provided evidence of the triggering of instabilities at substorm onset, including magnetic…
We present the first statistical study of magnetic structures and associated energy dissipation observed during a single period of turbulent magnetic reconnection, by using the \textit{in-situ} measurements of the Magnetospheric Multiscale…
Magnetic reconnection, a plasma process converting magnetic energy to particle kinetic energy, is often invoked to explain magnetic energy releases powering high-energy flares in astrophysical sources including pulsar wind nebulae and black…
Current sheets are an essential element of the planetary magnetotails, where strong plasma currents self-consistently support magnetic field gradients. The current sheet configuration is determined by plasma populations that contribute to…
We use the results of a three-dimensional kinetic simulation of an Harris current sheet to propose an explanation and to reproduce the ISEE-1/2, Geotail, and Cluster observations of the magnetotail current sheet structure. Current sheet…
Mercury's magnetotail hosts a thin and highly dynamic current sheet (CS), where magnetic reconnection and strong fluctuations frequently occur. Here, we statistically analyze magnetic field power spectra across 370 magnetotail CSs observed…
We present the first results of three-dimensional (3D) numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the onset of magnetic reconnection via the tearing instability in dynamically thinning current sheets in the solar corona. In all our…
Convection inside the magnetosphere can be regarded as the transfer of magnetic flux and plasma from the magnetotail into the nightside and then convection and drift from there to the dayside. As in many fluid flow situations, the…
The nonlinear development of ballooning instability and the subsequently induced plasmoid formation in the near-Earth magnetotail demonstrated in MHD simulations has been proposed as a potential trigger mechanism for substorm onset over the…
Magnetic reconnection is a sporadic process responsible for energy release in space and laboratory plasmas. It is believed that the tearing mode instability may be responsible for the onset of reconnection in the magnetotail. However, due…
The stability of electron current sheets embedded within the reconnection exhaust is studied with a 3D fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulation. The electron current layers studied here form self-consistently in a reconnection regime with…
Plasmoid-driven magnetic reconnection in elongated current sheets is suspected to be an ubiquitous phenomenon in space and astrophysical plasmas, but the mechanisms driving its onset and dynamics are still debated. Deciphering the physical…
Current sheets are spatially localized almost-1D structures with intense plasma currents. They play a key role in storing the magnetic field energy and they separate different plasma populations in planetary magnetospheres, the solar wind,…
Magnetic reconnection requires the violation of the frozen-in condition which ties gyrating charged particles to the magnetic field inhibiting diffusion. Ongoing reconnection has been identified in near-Earth space as being responsible for…