Related papers: Out-of-plane Parallel Current in the Diffusion Reg…
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…
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 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…
Magnetic reconnection changes the magnetic field topology and facilitates the energy and particle exchange at magnetospheric boundaries such as the Earth's magnetopause. The flow shear perpendicular to the reconnecting plane prevails at the…
The Electron Diffusion Region (EDR) is the region where magnetic reconnection is initiated and electrons are energized. Because of experimental difficulties, the structure of the EDR is still poorly understood. A key question is whether the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
In the outer heliosphere, beyond the solar wind termination shock, it is expected that the warped heliospheric current sheet forms a region of closely-packed, multiple, thin current sheets. Such a system may be subject to the ion-kinetic…
It is proposed that reconnection would be a main mechanism governing the plasma processes on auroral time scales in the topside ionosphere/high-latitude magnetosphere transition. It occurs in the downward current region between two narrow…
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…
Using particle-in-cell simulations that label ions and electrons according to their initial inflow region, we find that during 2D collisionless magnetic reconnection, the bulk flow of the plasma from each inflow side crosses paths with…
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…
First I emphasize the magnetospheric loop current system induced by the wind activity. Next, I address the formation of the field-aligned electric field. An interesting aspect is the reaction of the inner magnetosphere to an induced…
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),…
Fully kinetic simulations are applied to the study of 2D anti-parallel reconnection, elucidating the dynamics by which the electron fluid maintains force balance within both the electron diffusion region (EDR) and the ion diffusion region…
The twisted local magnetic field at the front or rear regions of the magnetic clouds (MCs) associated with interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) is often nearly opposite to the direction of the ambient interplanetary magnetic field…