Structure of the dissipation region in fluid simulations of asymmetric magnetic reconnection

Journal Article · Fri May 15 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3086867· OSTI ID:21277141

Cassak, P A ^[1]; Shay, M A ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506 (United States)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716 (United States)

The structure of the dissipation region during asymmetric magnetic reconnection is studied assuming antiparallel magnetic fields in two dimensions. A physics-based prediction for the scaling of the thickness of the dissipation region in (collisionless) Hall reconnection is presented and confirmed with two-fluid simulations. However, the substructure of the dissipation region in these and additional single-fluid (magnetohydrodynamics) simulations disagrees with a recent model [Cassak and Shay, Phys. Plasmas 14, 102114 (2007)]. We attribute the disagreement to the lack of plasma mixing along newly reconnected field lines in fluid models, rendering the use of a fluid description of questionable validity for determining the dissipation region substructure. Applications to the dayside magnetopause are discussed.

• OSTI ID: 21277141
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 5 Vol. 16; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
ASYMMETRY
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MAGNETOPAUSE
PLASMA
PLASMA SIMULATION