In situ evidence of magnetic reconnection in turbulent plasma

Retinò, Alessandro; Sundkvist, D.; Vaivads, A.; Mozer, F. S.; André, Mats; Owen, C. J.

doi:10.1038/nphys574

Cited by 384 publications

(352 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In the case of a solar flare, singular reconnection sites can be considered; however, in the majority of cases one has to deal with multiple reconnection sites at many scales. The interplay between these scales and the scale at which the reconnection occurs suggests cross-scale coupling with the possibility of turbulent reconnection [44][45][46]. The final article in this theme issue is a topical review by Lazarian et al [47] that discusses the topic of turbulent reconnection.…”

Section: Synopsis Of the Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Dissipation and heating in solar wind turbulence: from the macro to the micro and back again

Kiyani

Osman

Chapman

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

187

143

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The past decade has seen a flurry of research activity focused on discerning the physics of kinetic scale turbulence in high-speed astrophysical plasma flows. By ‘kinetic’ we mean spatial scales on the order of or, in particular, smaller than the ion inertial length or the ion gyro-radius—the spatial scales at which the ion and electron bulk velocities decouple and considerable change can be seen in the ion distribution functions. The motivation behind most of these studies is to find the ultimate fate of the energy cascade of plasma turbulence, and thereby the channels by which the energy in the system is dissipated. This brief Introduction motivates the case for a themed issue on this topic and introduces the topic of turbulent dissipation and heating in the solar wind. The theme issue covers the full breadth of studies: from theory and models, massive simulations of these models and observational studies from the highly rich and vast amount of data collected from scores of heliospheric space missions since the dawn of the space age. A synopsis of the theme issue is provided, where a brief description of all the contributions is discussed and how they fit together to provide an over-arching picture on the highly topical subject of dissipation and heating in turbulent collisionless plasmas in general and in the solar wind in particular.

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Section: Synopsis Of the Issuementioning

confidence: 99%

Dissipation and heating in solar wind turbulence: from the macro to the micro and back again

Kiyani

Osman

Chapman

2015

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

187

143

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“…A number of studies interpret spacecraft measurements during energetic events as nullpoint reconnection (Xiao et al 2006;Retinò et al 2007). Alternative scenarios of magnetic reconnection in turbulent plasmas were proposed by Che et al (2011);Daughton et al (2011) based on numerical simulations with topologies resembling X-lines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of Z-pinches in magnetic reconnection in space plasmas

2014

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A widely accepted scenario of magnetic reconnection in collisionless space plasmas is the breakage of magnetic field lines in X-points. In laboratory, reconnection is commonly studied in pinches, current channels embedded into twisted magnetic fields. No model of magnetic reconnection in space plasmas considers both null-points and pinches as peers. We have performed a particle-in-cell simulation of magnetic reconnection in a three-dimensional configuration where null-points are present initially, and Z-pinches are formed during the simulation along the lines of spiral null-points. The non-spiral nullpoints are more stable than spiral ones, and no substantial energy dissipation is associated with them. On the contrary, turbulent magnetic reconnection in the pinches causes the magnetic energy to decay at a rate of ∼ 1.5% per ion gyro period. Dissipation in similar structures is a likely scenario in space plasmas with large fraction of spiral null-points.

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“…Recent in situ evidence demonstrated magnetic reconnection occurring in the turbulent plasma of the Earth's magnetosheath. 25 Recent high-resolution spacecraft observations have revealed that in a substantial fraction of thin current sheet observations, the sheet current is bifurcated in the sense that the current density has more than one, mostly two, pronounced peaks. ͓Note that this feature is to be distinguished from current sheet bifurcation in the sense of statistical mechanics ͑see, for example, Ref.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation of thin bifurcated current sheets by quasisteady compression

Schindler

Hesse

2008

Physics of Plasmas

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Thin current sheets with half-widths in the range of about 10 or less ion inertial lengths (or ion gyroradii) have been identified as the sites of important dynamical phenomena in space plasmas. Recent space observations established that thin current sheets often have a bifurcated (double-peaked) current density. Earlier suggestions of possible bifurcation mechanisms are based on the presence of microfluctuations, magnetic reconnection, or a normal magnetic field component or assumed simplified models of adiabatic dynamics. Despite these efforts, the cause (or causes) of the formation of thin bifurcated current sheets and the conditions under which they form have remained unclear. In this paper, we identify quasisteady compression of a plane, initially wide collisionless current sheet as an effective physical mechanism for the formation of thin bifurcated current sheets. Our main tool is electromagnetic particle simulation. The initial sheet has a singly peaked current and a half-width that is five times larger than the ion inertial length. This sheet is quasisteadily compressed by external forces. A three-scale structure develops and the current bifurcates during compression. It is shown that the bifurcation, pressure anisotropy, and other major properties of the embedded current sheet can be understood in terms of basic physical principles, such as electric field shielding and momentum conservation. Sufficient conditions for bifurcation of symmetric current sheets are presented. They suggest that bifurcation must generally occur by quasisteady compression if the (singly peaked) initial current sheet is sufficiently wide.

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In situ evidence of magnetic reconnection in turbulent plasma

Cited by 384 publications

References 27 publications

Dissipation and heating in solar wind turbulence: from the macro to the micro and back again

Dissipation and heating in solar wind turbulence: from the macro to the micro and back again

Role of Z-pinches in magnetic reconnection in space plasmas

Formation of thin bifurcated current sheets by quasisteady compression

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