Model of electron pressure anisotropy in the electron diffusion region of collisionless magnetic reconnection
- Centrum voor Plasma-astrofysica, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Heverlee (Belgium)
- Department of Physics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg 198504 (Russian Federation)
- Institute for Computational Modelling, Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia and Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk 660041 (Russian Federation)
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz A-8042, Austria and Institute of Physics, University of Graz, Graz A-8010 (Austria)
A new model of the electron pressure anisotropy in the electron diffusion region in collisionless magnetic reconnection is presented for the case of antiparallel configuration of magnetic fields. The plasma anisotropy is investigated as source of collisionless dissipation. By separating electrons in the vicinity of the neutral line into two broad classes of inflowing and accelerating populations, it is possible to derive a simple closure for the off-diagonal electron pressure component. The appearance of these two electron populations near the neutral line is responsible for the anisotropy and collisionless dissipation in the magnetic reconnection. Particle-in-cell simulations verify the proposed model, confirming first the presence of two particle populations and second the analytical results for the off-diagonal electron pressure component. Furthermore, test-particle calculations are performed to compare our approach with the model of electron pressure anisotropy in the inner electron diffusion region by Fujimoto and Sydora [Phys. Plasmas 16, 112309 (2009)].
- OSTI ID:
- 21532064
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 17, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3521576; (c) 2010 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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