scholarly journals Electron energization and mixing observed by MMS in the vicinity of an electron diffusion region during magnetopause reconnection

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (12) ◽  
pp. 6036-6043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Jen Chen ◽  
Michael Hesse ◽  
Shan Wang ◽  
Daniel Gershman ◽  
Robert Ergun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Region ◽  
Electron Diffusion ◽  
Magnetopause Reconnection

scholarly journals In situ spacecraft observations of a structured electron diffusion region during magnetopause reconnection

2019 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Cozzani ◽  
A. Retinò ◽  
F. Califano ◽  
A. Alexandrova ◽  
O. Le Contel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Region ◽  
Electron Diffusion ◽  
Magnetopause Reconnection

scholarly journals Identification of the Electron-Diffusion Region during Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma

2008 ◽  
Vol 101 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Ren ◽  
Masaaki Yamada ◽  
Hantao Ji ◽  
Stefan P. Gerhardt ◽  
Russell Kulsrud
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Diffusion Region ◽  
Laboratory Plasma ◽  
Electron Diffusion

Reconstruction of the electron diffusion region

2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (5) ◽  
pp. 4279-4290 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. U. Ö. Sonnerup ◽  
H. Hasegawa ◽  
R. E. Denton ◽  
T. K. M. Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Diffusion Region ◽  
Electron Diffusion

Micro-scale tearing mode turbulence in the diffusion region during macro-scale evolution of turbulent reconnection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuma Nakamura ◽  
Hiroshi Hasegawa ◽  
Tai Phan ◽  
Kevin Genestreti ◽  
Richard Denton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Diffusion Region ◽  
Electron Diffusion ◽  
Efficient Energy ◽  
Micro Scale ◽  
Island Evolution ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Scale Evolution

<p>Magnetic reconnection is a key fundamental process in collisionless plasmas that explosively converts magnetic energy to plasma kinetic and thermal energies through a change of magnetic field topology in an electron-scale central region called the electron diffusion region. Past simulations and observations demonstrated that this process causes efficient energy conversion through the formation of multiple macro-scale or micro-scale magnetic islands/flux ropes. However, how these different spatiotemporal scale phenomena are coupled is still poorly understood. In this study, to investigate the turbulent evolution of magnetic reconnection, we perform a new large-scale fully kinetic simulation of a thin current sheet considering a power-law spectrum of initial fluctuations in the magnetic field as frequently observed in the Earth’s magnetotail. The simulation demonstrates that during a macro-scale evolution of turbulent reconnection, the merging of macro-scale islands results in reduction of the rate of reconnection as well as the aspect ratio of the electron diffusion region. This allows the repeated, quick formation of new electron-scale islands within the electron diffusion region, leading to an efficient energy cascade between macro- and micro-scales. The simulation also demonstrates that a strong electron acceleration/heating occurs during the micro-scale island evolution within the EDR. These new findings indicate the importance of non-steady features of the EDR to comprehensively understand the energy conversion and cascade processes in collisionless reconnection.</p>

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