scholarly journals Transient and localized processes in the magnetotail: a review

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 955-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Sharma ◽  
R. Nakamura ◽  
A. Runov ◽  
E. E. Grigorenko ◽  
H. Hasegawa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Particle Interactions ◽  
Transient Field ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Flux Ropes ◽  
Night Side ◽  
Bursty Bulk Flows

Abstract. Many phenomena in the Earth's magnetotail have characteristic temporal scales of several minutes and spatial scales of a few Earth radii (RE). Examples of such transient and localized mesoscale phenomena are bursty bulk flows, beamlets, energy dispersed ion beams, flux ropes, traveling compression regions, night-side flux transfer events, and rapid flappings of the current sheet. Although most of these observations are linked to specific interpretations or theoretical models they are inter-related and can be the different aspects of a physical process or origin. Recognizing the inter-connected nature of the different transient and localized phenomena in the magnetotail, this paper reviews their observations by highlighting their important characteristics, with emphasis on the new results from Cluster multipoint observations. The multi-point Cluster measurements have provided, for the first time, the ability to distinguish between temporal and spatial variations, and to resolve spatial structures. Some examples of the new results are: flux ropes with widths of 0.3 RE, transient field aligned currents associated with bursty bulk flows and connected to the Hall current at the magnetic reconnection, flappings of the magnetotail current sheet with time scales of 100 s–10 min and thickness of few thousand km, and particle energization including velocity and time dispersed ion structures with the latter having durations of 1–3 min. The current theories of these transient and localized processes are based largely on magnetic reconnection, although the important role of the interchange and other plasma modes are now well recognized. On the kinetic scale, the energization of particles takes place near the magnetic X-point by non-adiabatic processes and wave-particle interactions. The theory, modeling and simulations of the plasma and field signatures are reviewed and the links among the different observational concepts and the theoretical frameworks are discussed. The mesoscale processes in the magnetotail and the strong coupling among them are crucial in developing a comprehensive understanding of the multiscale phenomena of the magnetosphere.

scholarly journals Asymmetry in the current sheet and secondary magnetic flux ropes during guide field magnetic reconnection

2012 ◽  
Vol 117 (A7) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongsheng Wang ◽  
Rumi Nakamura ◽  
Quanming Lu ◽  
Aimin Du ◽  
Tielong Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Magnetic Flux Ropes ◽  
Guide Field ◽  
Flux Ropes

Direct evidence of secondary reconnection inside filamentary currents of magnetic flux ropes in magnetic reconnection

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shimou Wang ◽  
Quanming Lu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Dissipation ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Magnetic Energy ◽  
Flux Rope ◽  
Plasma Jets ◽  
Magnetic Flux Ropes ◽  
Flux Ropes ◽  
Reconnecting Current Sheet

<p>Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process, by which magnetic energy is explosively released in the current sheet to energize charged particles and to create bi-directional Alfvénic plasma jets. A long-outstanding issue is how the stored magnetic energy is rapidly released in the process. Numerical simulations and observations show that formation and interaction of magnetic flux ropes dominate the evolution of the reconnecting current sheet. Accordingly, most volume of the reconnecting current sheet is occupied by the flux ropes and energy dissipation primarily occurs along their edges via the flux rope coalescence. Here, for the first time, we present in-situ evidence of magnetic reconnection inside the filamentary currents which was driven possibly by electron vortices inside the flux ropes. Our results reveal an important new way for energy dissipation in magnetic reconnection.</p>

scholarly journals The birth of a coronal mass ejection

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. eaau7004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tingyu Gou ◽  
Rui Liu ◽  
Bernhard Kliem ◽  
Yuming Wang ◽  
Astrid M. Veronig
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Coronal Mass Ejection ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Magnetic Structure ◽  
Coronal Mass Ejections ◽  
Flux Rope ◽  
Evolutionary Path ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Flux Ropes ◽  
Mass Ejection

The Sun’s atmosphere is frequently disrupted by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), coupled with flares and energetic particles. The coupling is usually attributed to magnetic reconnection at a vertical current sheet connecting the flare and CME, with the latter embedding a helical magnetic structure known as flux rope. However, both the origin of flux ropes and their nascent paths toward eruption remain elusive. Here, we present an observation of how a stellar-sized CME bubble evolves continuously from plasmoids, mini flux ropes that are barely resolved, within half an hour. The eruption initiates when plasmoids springing from a vertical current sheet merge into a leading plasmoid, which rises at increasing speeds and expands impulsively into the CME bubble, producing hard x-ray bursts simultaneously. This observation illuminates a complete CME evolutionary path capable of accommodating a wide variety of plasma phenomena by bridging the gap between microscale and macroscale dynamics.

scholarly journals Anomalous-plasmoid-ejection-induced secondary magnetic reconnection: modeling solar flares and coronal mass ejections by laser–plasma experiments

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quanli Dong ◽  
Dawei Yuan ◽  
Shoujun Wang ◽  
Xun Liu ◽  
Yutong Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Coronal Mass Ejections ◽  
Solar Flares ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
High Energy ◽  
High Energy Density ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
Secondary Current ◽  
Field Lines

AbstractThe driving mechanism of solar flares and coronal mass ejections is a topic of ongoing debate, apart from the consensus that magnetic reconnection plays a key role during the impulsive process. While present solar research mostly depends on observations and theoretical models, laboratory experiments based on high-energy density facilities provide the third method for quantitatively comparing astrophysical observations and models with data achieved in experimental settings. In this article, we show laboratory modeling of solar flares and coronal mass ejections by constructing the magnetic reconnection system with two mutually approaching laser-produced plasmas circumfused of self-generated megagauss magnetic fields. Due to the Euler similarity between the laboratory and solar plasma systems, the present experiments demonstrate the morphological reproduction of flares and coronal mass ejections in solar observations in a scaled sense, and confirm the theory and model predictions about the current-sheet-born anomalous plasmoid as the initial stage of coronal mass ejections, and the behavior of moving-away plasmoid stretching the primary reconnected field lines into a secondary current sheet conjoined with two bright ridges identified as solar flares.

Observations of an Electron-only Magnetic Reconnection within a macroscopic Flux Rope in the Magnetotail

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hengyan Man ◽  
Meng Zhou ◽  
Yongyuan Yi ◽  
Zhihong Zhong ◽  
Xiaohua Deng
Keyword(s):  
Electric Field ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
Flux Rope ◽  
Space Plasmas ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Guide Field ◽  
Flux Ropes

<p>It is widely accepted that flux ropes play important roles in the momentum and energy transport in space plasmas. Recent observations found that magnetic reconnection occurs at the interface between two counter flows around the center of flux ropes. In this presentation, we report a novel observation by MMS that reconnection occurs at the edge of a large-scale flux rope, the cross-section of which was about 2.5 Re. The flux rope was observed at the dusk side in Earth’s magnetotail and was highly oblique with its axis proximity along the X<sub>GSM</sub> direction. We found an electron-scale current sheet near the edge of this flux rope. The Hall magnetic and electric field, super-Alfvénic electron outflow, parallel electric field and positive energy dissipation were observed associated with the current sheet. All the above signatures indicate that MMS detected a reconnecting current sheet in the presence of a large guide field. Interestingly, ions were not coupled in this reconnection, akin to the electron-only reconnection observed in the magnetosheath turbulence. We suggest that the electron-scale current sheet was caused by the strong magnetic field perturbation inside the flux rope. This result will shed new lights for understanding the multi-scale coupling associated with flux ropes in space plasmas.</p>

Modelling plasma turbulence observed by Parker Solar Probe during its first two orbits with hybrid-kinetic simulations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Franci ◽  
Alice Giroul ◽  
David Burgess ◽  
Emanuele Papini ◽  
Christopher Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Hybrid Approach ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Plasma Turbulence ◽  
Quantitative Agreement ◽  
Particle Interactions ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Turbulent Cascade

<p>We employ 2D and 3D high-resolution hybrid kinetic simulations of plasma turbulence to explore the physical conditions encountered by the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft during its first two orbits, modelling the turbulent cascade self-consistently from large fluid scales down to kinetic scales. <br>By varying key parameters (e.g., the ion and electron plasma beta, the level of fluctuations with respect to the ambient magnetic field, the injection scale), we explore different plasma conditions. We identify a new kinetic-scale regime with respect to what has previously been found in both hybrid simulations and spacecraft observations of the solar wind and of the near-Earth environment, characterized among other things by a steeper magnetic field spectrum. Our simulations reproduce PSP observations and thus offer the opportunity to investigate the physical mechanism(s) behind such change in the turbulent cascade properties. We discuss our results in the framework of theoretical models of the nonlinear interaction of dispersive wave modes, field-particle interactions, and magnetic reconnection in low-beta plasmas.<br>We also analyse intermittency, magnetic compressibility, polarization of wave-like fluctuations, and statistics of magnetic reconnection events by means of iterative filters, a new method for the analysis of nonlinear nonstationary signals.<br>Together with our previous numerical results in quantitative agreement with MMS observations in the Earth’s magnetosheath, our new findings confirm the ability of the hybrid approach to model in-situ observations, which is fundamental for interpreting observational results and for planning future spacecraft missions.</p>

scholarly journals Observations of Turbulent Magnetic Reconnection within a Solar Current Sheet

2018 ◽  
Vol 866 (1) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Cheng ◽  
Y. Li ◽  
L. F. Wan ◽  
M. D. Ding ◽  
P. F. Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Current Sheet

scholarly journals Numerical study of the reconnection process between magnetic cloud and heliospheric current sheet

2018 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. A82
Author(s):  
Man Zhang ◽  
Yu Fen Zhou ◽  
Xue Shang Feng ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Ming Xiong
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Dynamic Process ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Magnetic Cloud ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Heliospheric Current Sheet ◽  
Reconnection Process ◽  
Magnetic Filed

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.

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