Pressure Tensor Elements Breaking the Frozen-In Law During Reconnection in Earth’s Magnetotail

Journal Article · 25 November 2019 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.225101 · OSTI ID:1595782

Egedal, J. ^[1]; Ng, J. ^[2]; Le, A. ^[3]; Daughton, W. ^[3]; Wetherton, B. ^[1]; Dorelli, J. ^[4]; Gershman, D. ^[4]; Rager, A. ^[4]

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1. Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Dept. of Physics
2. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
4. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)

Aided by fully kinetic simulations, spacecraft observations of magnetic reconnection in Earth’s magnetotail are analyzed. The structure of the electron diffusion region is in quantitative agreement with the numerical model. Of particular interest, the spacecraft data reveal how reconnection is mediated by off-diagonal stress in the electron pressure tensor breaking the frozen-in law of the electron fluid.

• Research Organization: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Contributing Organization: MMS Science Data Center
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-09CH11466
• OSTI ID: 1595782
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Vol. 123, Issue 22; ISSN 0031-9007
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English