Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsh51a1987f&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SH51A-1987
Physics
Plasma Physics
[2723] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Reconnection, [7519] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Flares, [7526] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Magnetic Reconnection, [7835] Space Plasma Physics / Magnetic Reconnection
Scientific paper
Magnetic islands or flux ropes produced by magnetic reconnection have been observed on the magnetopause, in the magnetotail, and in coronal current sheets. Particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection with a guide field produce elongated electron current layers that spontaneously produce secondary islands. These islands may grow to sufficient size to explain the large numbers of islands seen in observations. Here, we explore the seed mechanism that gives birth to these islands. The most commonly suggested theory for island formation is the tearing instability. In contrast, we demonstrate that in our simulations these structures typically start out not as magnetic islands but as flow vortices within the electron current sheet. When some of these vortices first form, there are no closed magnetic field lines characteristic of a magnetic island. Only after they have grown larger than the electron skin depth do they couple to the magnetic field and seed the growth of finite-sized islands. The streaming of electrons along the magnetic separatrix can account for the flow shear necessary to drive an electron Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. The conditions under which this instability or tearing is the dominant mechanism for seeding magnetic islands are being explored.
Drake James F.
Fermo R. L.
Swisdak Michael
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