The scaling of collisionless, magnetic reconnection for large systems

Shay, M. A.; Drake, J. F.; Rogers, B. N.; Denton, R. E.

doi:10.1029/1999gl900481

Cited by 258 publications

(303 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The common belief is that particle acceleration occurs in the di †usion region, where many controversial physical issues are still not understood, at least from microscopic theoretical point of view (Lottermoser, Scholer, & Matthews 1998 ;Nakamura, Fujimoto, & Maezawa 1998 ;Shay et al 1998Shay et al , 1999Krauss-Varban, Karimabadi, & Omidi 1999). The physical picture in the present case is very di †er-ent from the usual approach.…”

Section: Magnetic Reconnectionmentioning

confidence: 37%

A Source of Energetic Particles Associated with Solar Flares

Wang

et al. 2001

ApJ

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Energetic particles produced at a solar Ñare event are an issue of great theoretical interest. A scenario involving magnetic Ðeld reconnection and newborn ions produced by ionization of neutral atoms in the lower corona is proposed by Wu. A series of two-dimensional hybrid simulations has been carried out to investigate this scenario further, and the results are presented in this paper. It is shown that under certain conditions the proposed process can produce protons with energies in the range of 10È100 MeV with a timescale of 10~4 to 10~3 s in a reconnection layer via the so-called ion pickup process. The acceleration process is sensitive to the ambient magnetic Ðeld. The maximum energy attainable is also discussed in terms of altitudes above the photosphere on the basis of a certain magnetic Ðeld model.

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Section: Magnetic Reconnectionmentioning

confidence: 37%

A Source of Energetic Particles Associated with Solar Flares

Wang

et al. 2001

ApJ

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“…Analytical and numerical advances in collisionless magnetic reconnection based on Hall MHD and other similar models such as the hybrid model [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] have been largely driven by satellite observations in the last decade [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. We in this paper review these developments and discuss outstanding issues raised by satellite observations and to be answered by theory and simulation.…”

Section: / 4πmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent progresses in theoretical studies and satellite observations for collisionless magnetic reconnection

Wang

Xiao

et al. 2012

Chin. Sci. Bull.

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As an essential mechanism in large scale fast magnetic energy releases and field reconfigurations processes in space, astrophysical, and laboratory plasmas, magnetic reconnection, particularly collisionless magnetic reconnection, has been studied for more than 65 years. Many progresses have been achieved in recent years and basic features of the process have been well understood, largely due to more and more satellite observation data available in the last decade. However, a few outstanding issues are still remained unresolved. We in the paper review the development of collisionless magnetic reconnection studies and major achievements in recent years, and also briefly discuss the open questions remained to be answered in studies of collisionless magnetic reconnection. Magnetic reconnection is thought an essential mechanism in many plasma physics processes in space, laboratory, and astrophysical objects, related to configurations relaxation and fast release of magnetic field and energy, observed in laboratory experiments and satellites observations and studied in numerical simulations and theoretical analysis [1]. The concept of magnetic reconnection was first proposed as a process of oppositely directed magnetic field lines merging and annihilated at a magnetic null, in an effort to understand the solar flare phenomenon It has then become a fundamental model in magnetic reconnection studies. Nevertheless, the Sweet-Parker reconnection rate is on the order of square root of the electrical resistivity. Due to the low collisionality in space and solar plasmas, the rate is too slow to be counted for fast events such as solar flares.Another model was then proposed by Petschek, with a fast driven and an X-point geometry, to solve the problem [5]. It was claimed in the Petschek model that a fast reconnection rate could be almost on the order of logarithm of resistivity, much faster than the Sweet-Parker rate. It was however found latterly that in high resolution simulations, the X-point geometry could not be realized in high Lundquist number regime of S≥10 4 [6]. And in the low Lundquist number regime (S<10 3 ), Petschek reconnection rate and Sweet-Parker reconnection rate would be more or less on the same order. On the other hand, collisionless mechanisms such as the finite Larmor radius (FLR) effect rather than collisional

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“…The initial configuration in the system is such that the inflow reconnecting magnetic field is B 0 and the inflowing density is n 0 . Figure adapted from Shay et al (1999) does not necessarily imply that the spacecraft is in the ion diffusion region. To recognize a candidate diffusion region encounter one needs to rely on other predicted signatures such as the presence of strong field-aligned temperature anisotropy in the inflow region (e.g., Swisdak et al 2005;Chen et al 2008a;Egedal et al 2010), or a strong out-of-the-plane current/an extremely thin (electron skin depth-scale) current sheet at the neutral sheet.…”

Section: Magnetotailmentioning

confidence: 99%

Establishing the Context for Reconnection Diffusion Region Encounters and Strategies for the Capture and Transmission of Diffusion Region Burst Data by MMS

et al. 2015

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This paper describes the efforts of our Inter-Disciplinary Scientist (IDS) team to (a) establish the large-scale context for reconnection diffusion region encounters by MMS at the magnetopause and in the magnetotail, including the distinction between X-line and O-line encounters, that would help the identification of diffusion regions in spacecraft data, and (b) devise possible strategies that can be used by MMS to capture and transmit burst data associated with diffusion region candidates. At the magnetopause we suggest the strategy of transmitting burst data from all magnetopause crossings so that no magnetopause reconnection diffusion regions encountered by the spacecraft will be missed. The strategy is made possible by the MMS mass memory and downlink budget. In the magnetotail, it is estimated that MMS will be able to transmit burst data for all diffusion regions, all reconnection jet fronts (a.k.a. dipolarization fronts) and separatrix encounters, but less than 50 % of reconnection exhausts encountered by the spacecraft. We also discuss automated burst trigger schemes that could capture various reconnection-related phenomena. The identification of candidate diffusion region encounters by the burst trigger schemes will be verified and improved by a Scientist-In-The-Loop (SITL). With the knowledge of the properties of the region surrounding the diffusion region and the combination of automated burst triggers and further optimization by the SITL, MMS should be able to capture most diffusion regions it encounters.

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The scaling of collisionless, magnetic reconnection for large systems

Cited by 258 publications

References 10 publications

A Source of Energetic Particles Associated with Solar Flares

A Source of Energetic Particles Associated with Solar Flares

Recent progresses in theoretical studies and satellite observations for collisionless magnetic reconnection

Establishing the Context for Reconnection Diffusion Region Encounters and Strategies for the Capture and Transmission of Diffusion Region Burst Data by MMS

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