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Magnetic Reconnection in Three Dimensions: Modeling and Analysis of Electromagnetic Drift Waves in the Adjacent Current Sheet

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ja027275· OSTI ID:1659660
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [2];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12];  [13];  [1];  [14] more »;  [15];  [16];  [17];  [17];  [18] « less
  1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  2. Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
  3. Bergen Univ. (Norway)
  4. Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States)
  5. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  6. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
  7. Swedish Inst. of Space Physics, Uppsala (Sweden)
  8. West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
  9. Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
  10. Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States); Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
  11. Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz (Austria)
  12. Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)
  13. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  14. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  15. Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Palaiseau (France)
  16. KTH Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm (Sweden)
  17. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
  18. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Magnetic reconnection at the subsolar magnetopause is persistently accompanied by strong fluctuations of the magnetic field (B), plasma density (n), and all components of the electric field (E) and current (J). The strongest fluctuations are at frequencies below the lower hybrid frequency and observed in a thin, intense current sheet adjacent to the electron diffusion region. In this current sheet, the background magnitudes of B and n are changing considerably, creating an inhomogeneous plasma environment. In this paper, we show that the fluctuations in B and n are consistent with an oscillatory displacement of the current sheet in the surface normal direction. The displacement is propagating parallel to the magnetic reconnection X-line. Wavelengths are on the order of or longer than the thickness of the current sheet to which they are confined, so we label these waves electromagnetic drift waves. E and J fluctuations are more complex than a simple displacement. They have significant variations in the component along B, which suggest that the drift waves also may be confined along B. The current sheet is supported by an electron drift driven by normal electric field, which, in turn, is balanced by an ion pressure gradient. We suggest that wave growth comes from an instability related to the drift between the electrons and ions. We discuss the possibility that drift waves can displace or penetrate into the electron diffusion region giving magnetic reconnection three-dimensional structure. Drift waves may corrugate the X-line, possibly breaking the X-line and generating turbulence.

Research Organization:
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Contributing Organization:
National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) MMS
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-09CH11466
OSTI ID:
1659660
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 124; ISSN 2169-9380
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Drift Waves
Magnetic Reconnection
Parallel Electric Fields
Turbulence