319 research outputs found
Particle-in-cell simulation study of the scaling of asymmetric magnetic reconnection with in-plane flow shear
We investigate magnetic reconnection in systems simultaneously containing
asymmetric (anti-parallel) magnetic fields, asymmetric plasma densities and
temperatures, and arbitrary in-plane bulk flow of plasma in the upstream
regions. Such configurations are common in the high-latitudes of Earth's
magnetopause and in tokamaks. We investigate the convection speed of the
X-line, the scaling of the reconnection rate, and the condition for which the
flow suppresses reconnection as a function of upstream flow speeds. We use
two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to capture the mixing of plasma in
the outflow regions better than is possible in fluid modeling. We perform
simulations with asymmetric magnetic fields, simulations with asymmetric
densities, and simulations with magnetopause-like parameters where both are
asymmetric. For flow speeds below the predicted cutoff velocity, we find good
scaling agreement with the theory presented in Doss et al., J.~Geophys.~Res.,
120, 7748 (2015). Applications to planetary magnetospheres, tokamaks, and the
solar wind are discussed.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physics of Plasma
The local dayside reconnection rate for oblique interplanetary magnetic fields
We present an analysis of local properties of magnetic reconnection at the
dayside magnetopause for various interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)
orientations in global magnetospheric simulations. This has heretofore not been
practical because it is difficult to locate where reconnection occurs for
oblique IMF, but new techniques make this possible. The approach is to identify
magnetic separators, the curves separating four regions of differing magnetic
topology, which map the reconnection X-line. The electric field parallel to the
X-line is the local reconnection rate. We compare results to a simple model of
local two-dimensional asymmetric reconnection. To do so, we find the plasma
parameters that locally drive reconnection in the magnetosheath and
magnetosphere in planes perpendicular to the X-line at a large number of points
along the X-line. The global magnetohydrodynamic simulations are from the
three-dimensional Block-Adaptive, Tree Solarwind Roe-type Upwind Scheme
(BATS-R-US) code with a uniform resistivity, although the techniques described
here are extensible to any global magnetospheric simulation model. We find that
the predicted local reconnection rates scale well with the measured values for
all simulations, being nearly exact for due southward IMF. However, the
absolute predictions differ by an undetermined constant of proportionality,
whose magnitude increases as the IMF clock angle changes from southward to
northward. We also show similar scaling agreement in a simulation with oblique
southward IMF and a dipole tilt. The present results will be an important
component of a full understanding of the local and global properties of dayside
reconnection.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, Submitted to Journal Geophysical
Research Space Physics February 12, 2016; Revised April 28, 201
A New Electric Field in Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection
We present a theory and numerical evidence for the existence of a previously
unexplored in-plane electric field in collisionless asymmetric magnetic
reconnection. This electric field, dubbed the "Larmor electric field," is
associated with finite Larmor radius effects and is distinct from the known
Hall electric field. Potentially, it could be an important indicator for the
upcoming Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission to locate reconnection sites
as we expect it to appear on the magnetospheric side, pointing Earthward, at
the dayside magnetopause reconnection site.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, to be published in Physical Review Letter
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Three-dimensional simulations of the orientation and structure of reconnection X-lines
This work employs Hall magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to study the
X-lines formed during the reconnection of magnetic fields with differing
strengths and orientations embedded in plasmas of differing densities. Although
random initial perturbations trigger the growth of X-lines with many
orientations, at late time a few robust X-lines sharing an orientation
reasonably consistent with the direction that maximizes the outflow speed, as
predicted by Swisdak and Drake [Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L11106, (2007)],
dominate the system. The existence of reconnection in the geometry examined
here contradicts the suggestion of Sonnerup [J. Geophys. Res., 79, 1546 (1974)]
that reconnection occurs in a plane normal to the equilibrium current. At late
time the growth of the X-lines stagnates, leaving them shorter than the
simulation domain.Comment: Accepted by Physics of Plasma
On the 3-D structure and dissipation of reconnection-driven flow-bursts
The structure of magnetic reconnection-driven outflows and their dissipation
are explored with large-scale, 3-D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. Outflow
jets resulting from 3-D reconnection with a finite length x-line form fronts as
they propagate into the downstream medium. A large pressure increase ahead of
this ``reconnection jet front'' (RJF), due to reflected and transmitted ions,
slows the front so that its velocity is well below the velocity of the ambient
ions in the core of the jet. As a result, the RJF slows and diverts the
high-speed flow into the direction perpendicular to the reconnection plane. The
consequence is that the RJF acts as a thermalization site for the ion bulk flow
and contributes significantly to the dissipation of magnetic energy during
reconnection even though the outflow jet is subsonic. This behavior has no
counterpart in 2-D reconnection. A simple analytic model predicts the front
velocity and the fraction of the ion bulk flow energy that is dissipated
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