Kinetic Structure of the Electron Diffusion Region in Antiparallel Magnetic Reconnection
Name
Ng-2011-Kinetic Structure of the Electron Diffusion Region in Antiparallel Magnetic Reconnection.pdf
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1.59 MB
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Adobe PDF
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Author(s)
Ng, Jonathan
Le, Ari Yitzchak
Daughton, W.
Chen, L.-J.
Date Issued
February 2011
Journal
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Ng, J. et al. "Kinetic Structure of the Electron Diffusion Region in Antiparallel Magnetic Reconnection.” “Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 065002 (2011)© 2011 American Physical Society.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Strong electron pressure anisotropy has been observed upstream of electron diffusion regions during reconnection in Earth’s magnetotail and kinetic simulations. For collisionless antiparallel reconnection, we find that the anisotropy drives the electron current in the electron diffusion region, and that this current is insensitive to the reconnection electric field. Reconstruction of the electron distribution function within this region at enhanced resolutions reveals its highly structured nature and the mechanism by which the pressure anisotropy sets the structure of the region.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.065002
