Energy Dissipation via Magnetic Reconnection Within the Coherent Structures of the Magnetosheath Turbulence

Abstract

In turbulent plasmas, energy is transferred from the large scale to the kinetic scale at which energy can be dissipated. This energy cascade and dissipation process is thought to play a significant role in plasma heating, such as in the solar corona (Cranmer et al., 2007). However, it is still an unsolved problem as to how the energy is finally dissipated at small scale. Numerical simulations have shown that turbulent cascade can generate numerous coherent structures characterized by intermittency like current sheets (

Large‐Scale Parallel Electric Field Colocated in an Extended Electron Diffusion Region During the Magnetosheath Magnetic Reconnection

“…In the interval of 04:34:20‐04:36:15 UT on 04 November 2015, four MMS spacecraft were located in the Earth's magnetosheath at (10.2, 1.9, −0.4) in geocentric solar ecliptic (GSE) coordinates. During the interval, the large magnetic field fluctuations were identified as flux ropes associated with thin CSs (Wang et al., 2021). This letter mainly focused on the CS with the strongest current (larger than 8 μA/m 2 ).…”

“…Magnetic reconnection is a universal plasma process in space and astrophysical environment that can convert magnetic energy into plasma kinetic and thermal energy (Hesse and Cassak, 2020; Yamada et al., 2010). The magnetosheath, downstream of the bow shock, is a turbulent plasma environment with many small‐scale current sheets (CSs) where magnetic reconnection is easily initiated (Karimabadi et al., 2014; Lu et al., 2020; Retino et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2021). These CSs are generally thin, with short durations of a few seconds or less when passing a spacecraft.…”

Division of Magnetic Flux Rope via Magnetic Reconnection Observed in the Magnetotail

“…Magnetic flux ropes (FRs) are helical magnetic field structures consisting of a poloidal magnetic field and an axial magnetic field component, which have been frequently observed in the terrestrial magnetosphere, such as magnetopause (Deng & Matsumoto, 2001; Eastwood et al., 2016; Hwang et al., 2016; Russell & Elphic, 1978; J. Zhong et al., 2013), magnetotail (Sibeck et al., 1984; Slavin et al., 2003; R. S. Wang, Lu, Du, & Wang, 2010; Zhao, Wang, & Du, 2016; Zong et al., 2004), and magnetosheath (Z. Z. Chen et al., 2019; S. Y. Huang et al., 2016; S. M. Wang et al., 2021; Yao et al., 2020). As one FR passes through the spacecraft, its typical signature is a bipolar variation of the poloidal magnetic field component with an enhancement of the axial magnetic field component.…”

Electron Acceleration by Interaction of Two Filamentary Currents Within a Magnetopause Magnetic Flux Rope

“…Recent simulations have used a guiding‐center theory to assess the contributions of curvature drift, gradient drift, and parallel electric fields to electron acceleration during reconnection (Dahlin et al., 2014; Guo et al., 2015; X. Li et al., 2015). A similar approach has been used to study electron acceleration within FRs observed in the Earth's magnetosphere (S Wang et al., 2021; Zhong et al., 2020).…”