scholarly journals Highly structured electron anisotropy in collisionless reconnection exhausts

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (15) ◽  
pp. 5389-5395 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Shuster ◽  
L.-J. Chen ◽  
W. S. Daughton ◽  
L. C. Lee ◽  
K. H. Lee ◽  
...  
1992 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 1077-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Drake ◽  
G. R. Burkhart

1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-355
Author(s):  
P. L. Pritchett ◽  
F. V. Coroniti ◽  
R. Pellat ◽  
H. Karimabadi

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 082312 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Grasso ◽  
E. Tassi ◽  
F. L. Waelbroeck

2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Alt ◽  
Matthew W. Kunz

In a magnetized, collisionless plasma, the magnetic moment of the constituent particles is an adiabatic invariant. An increase in the magnetic-field strength in such a plasma thus leads to an increase in the thermal pressure perpendicular to the field lines. Above a$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$-dependent threshold (where$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$is the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure), this pressure anisotropy drives the mirror instability, producing strong distortions in the field lines on ion-Larmor scales. The impact of this instability on magnetic reconnection is investigated using a simple analytical model for the formation of a current sheet (CS) and the associated production of pressure anisotropy. The difficulty in maintaining an isotropic, Maxwellian particle distribution during the formation and subsequent thinning of a CS in a collisionless plasma, coupled with the low threshold for the mirror instability in a high-$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$plasma, imply that the geometry of reconnecting magnetic fields can differ radically from the standard Harris-sheet profile often used in simulations of collisionless reconnection. As a result, depending on the rate of CS formation and the initial CS thickness, tearing modes whose growth rates and wavenumbers are boosted by this difference may disrupt the mirror-infested CS before standard tearing modes can develop. A quantitative theory is developed to illustrate this process, which may find application in the tearing-mediated disruption of kinetic magnetorotational ‘channel’ modes.


2001 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 555-557
Author(s):  
P. K. Browning ◽  
G. E. Vekstein

We investigate the acceleration of charged particles in the framework of collisionless reconnection. A steady reconnection scenario is considered, with a two dimensional X-point magnetic field geometry having also a uniform field component transverse to the plane of the X-point field, and an inductive electric field generating an inflow of particles. Test particle trajectories are studied, and the energy spectra of the accelerated particles are determined.


2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 062111 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Smets ◽  
N. Aunai ◽  
G. Belmont ◽  
C. Boniface ◽  
J. Fuchs

2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 512-518 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Grasso ◽  
F. Califano ◽  
F. Pegoraro ◽  
F. Porcelli

1991 ◽  
Vol 66 (11) ◽  
pp. 1458-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. F. Drake ◽  
R. G. Kleva

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