Fine Structures of the Electron Current Sheet in Magnetotail Guide‐Field Reconnection

Tang, Binbin; Li, W. Y.; Khotyaintsev, Yuri V.; Graham, Daniel B.; Chien, Gao; Chen, Z. Z.; Fu, H. S.; Lu, Quanming; Wang, C.; Burch, J. L.

doi:10.1029/2021gl097573

Cited by 5 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Rather, it supports these studies. An estimation of d d á ´ñ B J eN e shows that it is insufficient to support E M in the EDR (Tang et al 2022). Our estimation comes to the same conclusion.…”

Section: Off-diagonal (L-m) Stress and Edr Behavior In Turbulencesupporting

confidence: 74%

“…MMS4 has no V Elc determination and the least-accurate E measurement, so it is not used. Using different time periods results in a larger range (e. g. Tang et al 2022) but suggests E M is on the order of 1-2 mV m −1 . Despite the difficultly in establishing E M , one can come to a meaningful conclusion that the measured X LM in the electron jet suggests that electron stress can support E M in the turbulent EDR.…”

Section: Off-diagonal (L-m) Stress and Edr Behavior In Turbulencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The observations are from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission (Burch et al 2015), which has four satellites in a tetrahedral configuration. This particular event is analyzed in two other concurrent studies (Tang et al 2022;Wang et al 2022). Tang et al (2022) investigate what appears to be fine structure in the electron distributions attributing it to a small guide field and meandering electrons, for which we offer an alternate interpretation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Tang et al (2022) investigate what appears to be fine structure in the electron distributions attributing it to a small guide field and meandering electrons, for which we offer an alternate interpretation. Tang et al (2022) also assert local wave activity does not appreciably support the magnetic reconnection electric field, with which we concur. Wang et al (2022) discuss the role of lower hybrid wave activity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observation of Magnetic Reconnection in a Region of Strong Turbulence

Ergun

Pathak

Usanova

et al. 2022

ApJL

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We examine a rare and interesting observation of magnetic reconnection embedded in a large-scale region of strong turbulence in which magnetic field annihilation is energizing ions and electrons. The magnetic reconnection event is in Earth’s magnetotail and is associated with enhanced energetic particle fluxes indicating local particle acceleration. Despite substantial electric and magnetic field fluctuations throughout the surrounding, large-scale region, the ongoing magnetic reconnection has many similar properties to laminar, 2D magnetic reconnection including Hall electric fields, Hall magnetic fields, a thin electron current sheet, and ion and electron jets. Notably, the electron jet emerging from the electron diffusion region (EDR) appears to transport sufficient off-diagonal momentum to infer that off-diagonal electron stress can support the reconnection electric field in the EDR even in a turbulent environment. Although the electron jet appears to be briefly (∼1 s) deflected or possibly interrupted by an electromagnetic disturbance, the reconnection appears to otherwise continue for a long period (∼30 minutes) as evidenced by a persistent ion jet. This particular finding implies that the fundamental electron-scale processes inside of the EDR in turbulent magnetic reconnection are not necessarily distinct from those in laminar magnetic reconnection. These observations provide direct confirmation that magnetic reconnection can not only be responsible for but also can continue in regions of large-scale turbulence. Because the electric and magnetic fields of strong turbulence are linked to particle acceleration, it follows that particle acceleration also can continue as a consequence of turbulent magnetic reconnection.

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Section: Off-diagonal (L-m) Stress and Edr Behavior In Turbulencesupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Off-diagonal (L-m) Stress and Edr Behavior In Turbulencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Observation of Magnetic Reconnection in a Region of Strong Turbulence

Ergun

Pathak

Usanova

et al. 2022

ApJL

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“…In the magnetotail, reconnection is generally symmetric and antiparallel (Eastwood et al 2010a). Meanwhile, an increasing number of reconnection events with the guide field were also detected in the magnetotail (Chen et al 2021;Tang et al 2022;Wang et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Observations of Lower-hybrid Drift Waves in Terrestrial Magnetotail Reconnection with Moderate Guide Field and Asymmetric Plasma Density

Chen

Cao

et al. 2022

ApJ

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Utilizing high-resolution data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, we present new observations of lower-hybrid drift waves (LHDWs) in terrestrial magnetotail reconnection with guide field levels of ∼70% and asymmetric plasma density (N high/N low ∼ 2.5). The LHDWs, driven by lower-hybrid drift instability, were observed in correlation with magnetic field and density gradients at separatrices on both sides of the reconnection current sheet. The properties of the LHDWs at both sides of the separatrices are different: (1) At high-density side separatrices, the LHDWs with wavelength kρ e ∼ 0.41 propagated away from the X-line mainly in the L–M plane; (2) at the low-density side separatrices, the LHDWs with wavelengths kρ e ∼ 0.76 and kρ e ∼ 0.35 propagated mainly along the outflow direction and current sheet normal. It is also found that the perpendicular magnetic field fluctuations were comparable to the parallel component. Wave potential of the LHDWs was 20% ∼ 35% of the electron temperature. The LHDWs contributed to electron demagnetization and energy dissipation. Our study can promote understanding of properties of LHDWs during magnetic reconnection.

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Agyrotropic Electron Distributions in the Terrestrial Foreshock Transients

Chien

Tang

Guo

et al. 2023

Geophysical Research Letters

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Agyrotropic electron distributions are frequently taken as an indicator of electron diffusion regions of magnetic reconnection. However, they have also been found at electron‐scale boundaries of the non‐reconnecting magnetopause and are generated by the electron finite gyroradius effect. Here, we present magnetospheric multiscale observations of agyrotropic electron distributions in the foreshock region. These distributions are generated by the electron finite gyroradius effect after magnetic curvature scattering at a thin electron‐scale boundary. Meanwhile, the signatures of magnetic reconnection are absent at this boundary. The test‐particle simulation is adopted to verify the generation of the agyrotropic electron distributions by assuming one‐dimensional magnetic geometry. These observations suggest that agyrotropic electron distributions can be more widely formed at electron‐scale boundaries in space plasma environment.

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Fine Structures of the Electron Current Sheet in Magnetotail Guide‐Field Reconnection

Cited by 5 publications

References 45 publications

Observation of Magnetic Reconnection in a Region of Strong Turbulence

Observation of Magnetic Reconnection in a Region of Strong Turbulence

Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Observations of Lower-hybrid Drift Waves in Terrestrial Magnetotail Reconnection with Moderate Guide Field and Asymmetric Plasma Density

Agyrotropic Electron Distributions in the Terrestrial Foreshock Transients

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