Electron energization during magnetic island coalescence

Journal Article · Sun Jul 15 04:00:00 EDT 2012 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4739244· OSTI ID:22072539

Le, A; Egedal, J ^[1]; Karimabadi, H; Roytershteyn, V ^[2]; Daughton, W ^[3]

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1. MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States)
2. University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 (United States)

Radio emission from colliding coronal mass ejection flux ropes in the interplanetary medium suggested the local generation of superthermal electrons. Inspired by those observations, a fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulation of magnetic island coalescence models the magnetic reconnection between islands as a source of energetic electrons. When the islands merge, stored magnetic energy is converted into electron kinetic energy. The simulation demonstrates that a mechanism for electron energization originally applied to open field line reconnection geometries also operates near the reconnection site of merging magnetic islands. The electron heating is highly anisotropic, and it results mainly from an electric field surrounding the reconnection site that accelerates electrons parallel to the magnetic field. A detailed theory predicts the maximum electron energies and how they depend on the plasma parameters. In addition, the global motion of the magnetic islands launches low-frequency waves in the surrounding plasma, which induce large-amplitude, anisotropic fluctuations in the electron temperature.

• OSTI ID: 22072539
• Journal Information: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 19; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
AMPLITUDES
ANISOTROPY
COALESCENCE
CORONA DISCHARGES
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
FLUCTUATIONS
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
KINETIC ENERGY
MAGNETIC ISLANDS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
TAIL ELECTRONS