Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations of Electron Vortex Magnetic Hole in the Turbulent Magnetosheath Plasma
- School of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan (China)
- Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, CNRS-Ecole Polytechnique-UPMC, Palaiseau (France)
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing (China)
- Key Laboratory of Planetary Sciences, Purple Mountain Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing (China)
- Institute of Space Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang (China)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- School of Space and Environment, Beihang University, Beijing (China)
- Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong University, Weihai (China)
- Institut de Recherche and Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse (UPS), Toulouse (France)
- NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
We report on the observations of an electron vortex magnetic hole corresponding to a new type of coherent structure in the turbulent magnetosheath plasma using the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission data. The magnetic hole is characterized by a magnetic depression, a density peak, a total electron temperature increase (with a parallel temperature decrease but a perpendicular temperature increase), and strong currents carried by the electrons. The current has a dip in the core region and a peak in the outer region of the magnetic hole. The estimated size of the magnetic hole is about 0.23 ρ {sub i} (∼30 ρ {sub e}) in the quasi-circular cross-section perpendicular to its axis, where ρ {sub i} and ρ {sub e} are respectively the proton and electron gyroradius. There are no clear enhancements seen in high-energy electron fluxes. However, there is an enhancement in the perpendicular electron fluxes at 90° pitch angle inside the magnetic hole, implying that the electrons are trapped within it. The variations of the electron velocity components V {sub em} and V {sub en} suggest that an electron vortex is formed by trapping electrons inside the magnetic hole in the cross-section in the M – N plane. These observations demonstrate the existence of a new type of coherent structures behaving as an electron vortex magnetic hole in turbulent space plasmas as predicted by recent kinetic simulations.
- OSTI ID:
- 22654531
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 836, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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