scholarly journals Rippling mode in the subsolar magnetopause current layer and its influence on three-dimensional magnetic reconnection

2011 ◽  
Vol 116 (A4) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. Pritchett ◽  
F. S. Mozer
2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miho Janvier

Solar flares are powerful radiations occurring in the Sun’s atmosphere. They are powered by magnetic reconnection, a phenomenon that can convert magnetic energy into other forms of energy such as heat and kinetic energy, and which is believed to be ubiquitous in the universe. With the ever increasing spatial and temporal resolutions of solar observations, as well as numerical simulations benefiting from increasing computer power, we can now probe into the nature and the characteristics of magnetic reconnection in three dimensions to better understand the phenomenon’s consequences during eruptive flares in our star’s atmosphere. We review in the following the efforts made on different fronts to approach the problem of magnetic reconnection. In particular, we will see how understanding the magnetic topology in three dimensions helps in locating the most probable regions for reconnection to occur, how the current layer evolves in three dimensions and how reconnection leads to the formation of flux ropes, plasmoids and flaring loops.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (10/12) ◽  
pp. 1545-1566 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Bosqued ◽  
T. D. Phan ◽  
I. Dandouras ◽  
C. P. Escoubet ◽  
H. Rème ◽  
...  

Abstract. Launched on an elliptical high inclination orbit (apogee: 19.6 RE) since January 2001 the Cluster satellites have been conducting the first detailed three-dimensional studies of the high-latitude dayside magnetosphere, including the exterior cusp, neighbouring boundary layers and magnetopause regions. Cluster satellites carry the CIS ion spectrometers that provide high-precision, 3D distributions of low-energy (<35 keV/e) ions every 4 s. This paper presents the first two observations of the cusp and/or magnetopause behaviour made under different interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. Flow directions, 3D distribution functions, density profiles and ion composition profiles are analyzed to demonstrate the high variability of high-latitude regions. In the first crossing analyzed (26 January 2001, dusk side, IMF-BZ < 0), multiple, isolated boundary layer, magnetopause and magnetosheath encounters clearly occurred on a quasi-steady basis for ~ 2 hours. CIS ion instruments show systematic accelerated flows in the current layer and adjacent boundary layers on the Earthward side of the magnetopause. Multi-point analysis of the magnetopause, combining magnetic and plasma data from the four Cluster spacecraft, demonstrates that oscillatory outward-inward motions occur with a normal speed of the order of ± 40 km/s; the thickness of the high-latitude current layer is evaluated to be of the order of 900–1000 km. Alfvénic accelerated flows and D-shaped distributions are convincing signatures of a magnetic reconnection occurring equatorward of the Cluster satellites. Moreover, the internal magnetic and plasma structure of a flux transfer event (FTE) is analyzed in detail; its size along the magnetopause surface is ~ 12 000 km and it convects with a velocity of ~ 200 km/s. The second event analyzed (2 February 2001) corresponds to the first Cluster pass within the cusp when the IMF-BZ component was northward directed. The analysis of relevant CIS plasma data shows temporal cusp structures displaying a reverse energy-latitude "saw tooth" dispersion, typical for a bursty reconnection between the IMF and the lobe field lines. The observation of D-shaped distributions indicates that the Cluster satellites were located just a few RE from the reconnection site.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers; magnetosheath) Space plasma physics (magnetic reconnection)


2000 ◽  
Vol 105 (A3) ◽  
pp. 5529-5540 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ensang Lee ◽  
Kyoung-Wook Min ◽  
Jongho Seon ◽  
L. C. Lee ◽  
Dongsu Ryu

2018 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. A82
Author(s):  
Man Zhang ◽  
Yu Fen Zhou ◽  
Xue Shang Feng ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Ming Xiong

In this paper, we have used a three-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamics model to study the reconnection process between magnetic cloud and heliospheric current sheet. Within a steady-state heliospheric model that gives a reasonable large-scale structure of the solar wind near solar minimum, we injected a spherical plasmoid to mimic a magnetic cloud. When the magnetic cloud moves to the heliospheric current sheet, the dynamic process causes the current sheet to become gradually thinner and the magnetic reconnection begin. The numerical simulation can reproduce the basic characteristics of the magnetic reconnection, such as the correlated/anticorrelated signatures in V and B passing a reconnection exhaust. Depending on the initial magnetic helicity of the cloud, magnetic reconnection occurs at points along the boundary of the two systems where antiparallel field lines are forced together. We find the magnetic filed and velocity in the MC have a effect on the reconnection rate, and the magnitude of velocity can also effect the beginning time of reconnection. These results are helpful in understanding and identifying the dynamic process occurring between the magnetic cloud and the heliospheric current sheet.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yann Pfau-Kempf ◽  
Minna Palmroth ◽  
Andreas Johlander ◽  
Lucile Turc ◽  
Markku Alho ◽  
...  

&lt;p&gt;Dayside magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause, which is a major driver of space weather, is studied for the first time in a three-dimensional (3D) realistic setup using the Vlasiator hybrid-Vlasov kinetic model. A noon&amp;#8211;midnight meridional plane simulation is extended in the dawn&amp;#8211;dusk direction to cover 7 Earth radii. The southward interplanetary magnetic field causes magnetic reconnection to occur at the subsolar magnetopause. Perturbations arising from kinetic instabilities in the magnetosheath appear to modulate the reconnection. Its characteristics are consistent with multiple, bursty, and patchy magnetopause reconnection. It is shown that the kinetic behavior of the plasma, as simulated by the model, has consequences on the applicability of methods such as the four-field junction to identify and analyse magnetic reconnection in 3D kinetic simulations.&lt;/p&gt;


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