Cause of super-thermal electron heating during magnetotail reconnection

Abstract

[1] We present a candidate mechanism for the energization of super-thermal electrons during magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail. By analyzing in-situ measurements of electron distribution functions we characterize the relative energy gain of the electrons as a function of energy, Δℰ(ℰ). For all the events considered the high energy part of Δℰ(ℰ) is nearly independent of equation image. This is the signature of energization in an acceleration potential, Φ||, which is caused by parallel electric fields in the vicinity of the reconnection region. The same acceleration mechanism is also documented for a kinetic simulation of reconnection.