Structure of the dissipation region during magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasma

Details Structure of the dissipation region during magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasma Structure of the dissipation region during magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasma

Jul 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991jgr....9611539b&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 96, July 1, 1991, p. 11,539-11,553. U.S. Navy-supported research.

Physics

31

Collisionless Plasmas, Earth Magnetosphere, Magnetic Field Reconnection, Magnetohydrodynamics, Plasma Currents, Solar Wind

Scientific paper

The results are presented of an analytic and numerical investigation of the structure of the X line during steady state magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasma. The structure of the X line essentially depends on a single dimensionless parameter F, which is a measure of the influx of plasma into the reconnection region. For small F the self-consistent plasma current driven at the X line is small, and the magnetic fields are nearly unchanged from the initial vacuum state. With increasing F the current driven at the X line becomes large and the dissipation region collapses in the direction of the inflow and elongates along the outflow. For sufficiently large F the velocity of the plasma ejected form the X line exceeds the local Alfven velocity. In this regime a fast mode shock forms at the outflow end of the dissipation region which slows the high-velocity outflow plasma to the subsonic flow characteristic of the broader outflow region. Finally, at a critical plasma flux the dissipation region collapses to zero thickness.

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