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Register a new userTurbulence and Transport During Guide-Field Reconnection at the Magnetopause
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We analyze the development and influence of turbulence in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of guide-field magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause with parameters based on observations of an electron diffusion region by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. Along the separatrices the turbulence is a variant of the lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI) that produces electric field fluctuations with amplitudes much greater than the reconnection electric field. The turbulence controls the scale length of the density and current profiles while enabling significant transport across the magnetopause despite the electrons remaining frozen-in to the magnetic field. Near the X-line the electrons are not frozen-in and the turbulence, which differs from the LHDI, makes a significant net contribution to the generalized Ohms law through an anomalous viscosity. The characteristics of the turbulence and associated particle transport are consistent with fluctuation amplitudes in the MMS observations. However, for this event the simulations suggest that the MMS spacecraft were not close enough to the core of the electron diffusion region to identify the region where anomalous viscosity is important.
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We report electrostatic Debye-scale turbulence developing within the diffusion region of asymmetric magnetopause reconnection with moderate guide field using observations by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. We show that Buneman waves and beam modes cause efficient and fast thermalization of the reconnection electron jet by irreversible phase mixing, during which the jet kinetic energy is transferred into thermal energy. Our results show that the reconnection diffusion region in the presence of a moderate guide field is highly turbulent, and that electrostatic turbulence plays an important role in electron heating.
The impact of high-speed jets -- dynamic pressure enhancements in the magnetosheath -- on the Earths magnetopause has been observed to trigger local magnetic reconnection. We perform a three-dimensional hybrid simulation to study the magnetosheath and magnetopause under turbulent conditions using a quasi-radial southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). In contrast to quasi-steady reconnection with a strong southward IMF, we show that after the impact of a jet on the magnetopause, the magnetopause moves inwards, the current sheet is compressed and intensified and signatures of local magnetic reconnection are observed, showing similarities to spacecraft measurements
Based on global hybrid simulation results, we predict that foreshock turbulence can reach the magnetopause and lead to reconnection as well as Earth-sized indents. Both the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and solar wind are constant in our simulation, and hence all dynamics are generated by foreshock instabilities. The IMF in the simulation is mostly Sun-Earth aligned with a weak northward and zero dawn-dusk component, such that subsolar magnetopause reconnection is not expected without foreshock turbulence modifying the magnetosheath fields. We show a reconnection example to illustrate that the turbulence can create large magnetic shear angles across the magnetopause to induce local bursty reconnection. Magnetopause reconnection and indents developed from the impact of foreshock turbulence can potentially contribute to dayside loss of planetary plasmas.
Particle-in-Cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection with a guide field reveal for the first time the three dimensional features of the low density regions along the magnetic reconnection separatrices, the so-called cavities. It is found that structures with further lower density develop within the cavities. Because their appearance is similar to the rib shape, these formations are here called low density ribs. Their location remains approximately fixed in time and their density progressively decreases, as electron currents along the cavities evacuate them. They develop along the magnetic field lines and are supported by a strong perpendicular electric field that oscillates in space. In addition, bipolar parallel electric field structures form as isolated spheres between the cavities and the outflow plasma, along the direction of the low density ribs and of magnetic field lines.
Waves around the lower hybrid frequency are frequently observed at Earths magnetopause, and readily reach very large amplitudes. Determining the properties of lower hybrid waves is crucial because they are thought to contribute to electron and ion heating, cross-field particle diffusion, anomalous resistivity, and energy transfer between electrons and ions. All these processes could play an important role in magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause and the evolution of the boundary layer. In this paper, the properties of lower hybrid waves at Earths magnetopause are investigated using the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. For the first time, the properties of the waves are investigated using fields and direct particle measurements. The highest-resolution electron moments resolve the velocity and density fluctuations of lower hybrid waves, confirming that electrons remain approximately frozen in at lower hybrid wave frequencies. Using fields and particle moments the dispersion relation is constructed and the wave-normal angle is estimated to be close to $90^{circ}$ to the background magnetic field. The waves are shown to have a finite parallel wave vector, suggesting that they can interact with parallel propagating electrons. The observed wave properties are shown to agree with theoretical predictions, the previously used single-spacecraft method, and four-spacecraft timing analyses. These results show that single-spacecraft methods can accurately determine lower hybrid wave properties.
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