The Magnetic Reconnection Diffusion Region from Four-Spacecraft Observations

Details The Magnetic Reconnection Diffusion Region from Four-Spacecraft Observations The Magnetic Reconnection Diffusion Region from Four-Spacecraft Observations

Dec 2004

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agufmsm51d..06a&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2004, abstract #SM51D-06

Physics

7835 Magnetic Reconnection, 2724 Magnetopause, Cusp, And Boundary Layers

Scientific paper

Magnetic reconnection leads to energy conversion in large volumes in space but is initiated in small diffusion regions. Due to the small sizes of the diffusion regions, their crossings by spacecraft are rare. We report on Cluster observations of diffusion region encounters. These four-spacecraft observations allow us to reliably distinguish spatial from temporal features. Examples show that diffusion regions are stable on ion time and length scales in agreement with numerical simulations. The electric field normal to the current sheet is balanced by the Hall term in the Generalized Ohm's Law, thus establishing that Hall physics is dominating the diffusion region. The reconnection rate is fast, about 0.1. Strong parallel currents flow along the separatrices, and are correlated with Langmuir or upper hybrid waves.

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