The generalized Ohm`s law in collisionless magnetic reconnection
- Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775 (United States)
- Department of Earth Science, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan, Republic of (China)
The generalized Ohm{close_quote}s law and the force balance near neutral lines in collisionless magnetic reconnection is studied based on two-dimensional full particle simulations in which the ion{endash}electron mass ratio is set to be 1836. The off-diagonal elements of a plasma pressure tensor are found to be responsible for the breakdown of the frozen-in condition in collisionless reconnection. While the off-diagonal elements of the electron pressure tensor are dominant terms in the generalized Ohm{close_quote}s law near neutral lines, the ion off-diagonal pressure terms are of significant importance when ions are main current carriers. The spatial scale of electron off-diagonal pressure term P{sub xy}{sup (e)} is also found to be proportional to the Dungey length scale, (m{sub e}E{sub y}/e{beta}{sup 2}){sup 1/3}, where {beta}={partial_derivative}B{sub z}/{partial_derivative}x. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG06-86ER13530
- OSTI ID:
- 497642
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 4, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: Mar 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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