On the role of separatrix instabilities in heating the reconnection outflow region
Abstract
A study of the role microinstabilities at the reconnection separatrix can play in heating the electrons during the transition from inflow to outflow is being presented. We find that very strong flow shears at the separatrix layer lead to counterstreaming electron distributions in the region around the separatrix, which become unstable to a beam-type instability. Similar to what has been seen in earlier research, the ensuing instability leads to the formation of propagating electrostatic solitons. We show here that this region of strong electrostatic turbulence is the predominant electron heating site when transiting from inflow to outflow. The heating is the result of heating generated by electrostatic turbulence driven by overlapping beams, and its macroscopic effect is a quasi-viscous contribution to the overall electron energy balance. We suggest that instabilities at the separatrix can play a key role in the overall electron energy balance in magnetic reconnection.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[5];
[6];
[7];
[8];
- Univ. of Bergen (Norway); Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
- Univ. of Bergen (Norway)
- Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
- Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States)
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
- Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz (Austria)
- Imperial College, London (United Kingdom)
- Univ. of Tokyo (Japan)
- Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
- Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); Research Council of Norway
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1612465
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0016278; 80NSSC18K0754; AGS1619584; AGS-1202537; AGS-1543598; AGS-1554142; 223252/F50
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physics of Plasmas
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 25; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-664X
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY; Physics; Plasma waves; Plasma instabilities; Electrostatic structures; Electric currents; Energy equations; Magnetic reconnection; Energy conversion; Magnetic energy
Citation Formats
Hesse, M., Norgren, C., Tenfjord, P., Burch, J. L., Liu, Y. -H., Chen, L. -J., Bessho, N., Wang, S., Nakamura, R., Eastwood, J. P., Hoshino, M., Torbert, R. B., and Ergun, R. E. On the role of separatrix instabilities in heating the reconnection outflow region. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.5054100.
Hesse, M., Norgren, C., Tenfjord, P., Burch, J. L., Liu, Y. -H., Chen, L. -J., Bessho, N., Wang, S., Nakamura, R., Eastwood, J. P., Hoshino, M., Torbert, R. B., & Ergun, R. E. On the role of separatrix instabilities in heating the reconnection outflow region. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5054100
Hesse, M., Norgren, C., Tenfjord, P., Burch, J. L., Liu, Y. -H., Chen, L. -J., Bessho, N., Wang, S., Nakamura, R., Eastwood, J. P., Hoshino, M., Torbert, R. B., and Ergun, R. E. Wed .
"On the role of separatrix instabilities in heating the reconnection outflow region". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5054100. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1612465.
@article{osti_1612465,
title = {On the role of separatrix instabilities in heating the reconnection outflow region},
author = {Hesse, M. and Norgren, C. and Tenfjord, P. and Burch, J. L. and Liu, Y. -H. and Chen, L. -J. and Bessho, N. and Wang, S. and Nakamura, R. and Eastwood, J. P. and Hoshino, M. and Torbert, R. B. and Ergun, R. E.},
abstractNote = {A study of the role microinstabilities at the reconnection separatrix can play in heating the electrons during the transition from inflow to outflow is being presented. We find that very strong flow shears at the separatrix layer lead to counterstreaming electron distributions in the region around the separatrix, which become unstable to a beam-type instability. Similar to what has been seen in earlier research, the ensuing instability leads to the formation of propagating electrostatic solitons. We show here that this region of strong electrostatic turbulence is the predominant electron heating site when transiting from inflow to outflow. The heating is the result of heating generated by electrostatic turbulence driven by overlapping beams, and its macroscopic effect is a quasi-viscous contribution to the overall electron energy balance. We suggest that instabilities at the separatrix can play a key role in the overall electron energy balance in magnetic reconnection.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5054100},
journal = {Physics of Plasmas},
number = 12,
volume = 25,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Wed Dec 12 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}
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Works referencing / citing this record:
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Nonideal Electric Field Observed in the Separatrix Region of a Magnetotail Reconnection Event
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Erratum: “On the role of separatrix instabilities in heating the reconnection outflow region” [Phys. Plasmas 25 , 122902 (2018)]
journal, April 2019
- Hesse, M.; Norgren, C.; Tenfjord, P.
- Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 4