Physics
Scientific paper
May 2005
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agusmsm32a..05d&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2005, abstract #SM32A-05
Physics
2724 Magnetopause, Cusp, And Boundary Layers, 2753 Numerical Modeling, 7835 Magnetic Reconnection
Scientific paper
An unsolved problem in magnetospheric physics concerns the geometry of magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause under generic northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. There are currently two popular and competing models which address this problem. In the "antiparallel" reconnection model, the reconnection line is the locus of points on the magnetopause surface for which the magnetosheath and magnetospheric fields are antiparallel. In contrast, the "component" reconnection model does not constrain the reconnecting fields to be antiparallel, instead identifying the X line direction with that of the local current density. In this presentation, we argue that both of these pictures result from an inappropriate application of ideas from two dimensional reconnection theory to an inherently three dimensional situation. Using global magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations, we demonstrate that, in the context of resistive MHD with constant Lundquist number -- and under generic northward IMF conditions, where the y and z components of the magnetic field (in Solar Magnetospheric coordinates) are comparable -- magnetic reconnection occurs at the subsolar magnetopause via a flux pileup mechanism. Current density is distributed across the dayside magnetopause in a "ribbon" which terminates near two cusp magnetic nulls. Due to the inherently three-dimensional nature of the reconnection geometry, neither the component nor the antiparallel model is relevant; instead, the geometry is more reminiscent of "separator" reconnection, which combines aspects of both component and antiparallel merging. We discuss the possibility of using spacecraft data to test the predictions of the MHD simulations.
Bhattacharjee Anirban
Dorelli John C.
Raeder Joachim
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