Theory, observations, and simulations of kinetic entropy in a magnetotail electron diffusion region

Argall, M. R.; Barbhuiya, M. H.; Cassak, P. A.; Wang, S.; Shuster, J.; Liang, H.; Gershman, D. J.; Torbert, R. B.; Burch, J. L.

doi:10.1063/5.0073248

Title: Theory, observations, and simulations of kinetic entropy in a magnetotail electron diffusion region

Journal Article · 07 February 2022 · Physics of Plasmas

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0073248 · OSTI ID:1968125

^[1];

^[2];

^[3];

^[4];

^[3];

^[5];

^[6]

Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States); West Virginia University
West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
Univ. of Alabama, Huntsville, AL (United States)
Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX (United States)

In this work, we examine velocity-space kinetic entropy, a spatially local measure of entropy for systems out of thermal equilibrium, during an encounter of an electron diffusion region at a magnetic reconnection site in Earth’s magnetotail by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. We start by generalizing the theory of kinetic entropy to the case of non-uniform velocity space grids and transforming the equations into spheri- cal energy coordinates useful to experimental plasma detectors. The theory is then applied to MMS data and compared to particle-in-cell simulations of reconnection. We demonstrate that the entropy-based non-Maxwellianity measure from the MMS data is of sufficiently high precision to reliably identify non-Maxwellian distributions and therefore the measurements when kinetic effects are most significant. By comparing two different non-Maxwellian measures, we show that total entropy density suffers from “information loss” because it lacks a dependence on the velocity space grid, and so has lost information about how well a distribution function is resolved. Local velocity-space kinetic entropy density recovers this information. We quantify information loss and argue that the considerations needed to minimize it are crucial for instruments designed to measure distribution functions in situ.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, WV (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231; SC0020294

OSTI ID:: 1968125

Journal Information:: Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 29; ISSN 1070-664X

Publisher:: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (70)

Data for Kinetic Entropy-Based Measures of Distribution Function Non-Maxwellianity: Theory and Simulations Liang, Haoming; Barbhuiya, M. Hasan; Cassak, Paul Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3951730	dataset	January 2020
Highly structured electron anisotropy in collisionless reconnection exhausts Shuster, J. R.; Chen, L. -J.; Daughton, W. S. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060608	journal	August 2014
On the electron diffusion region in planar, asymmetric, systems: diffusion region in asymmetric systems Hesse, Michael; Aunai, Nicolas; Sibeck, David Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 24 https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL061586	journal	December 2014
Spatiotemporal evolution of electron characteristics in the electron diffusion region of magnetic reconnection: Implications for acceleration and heating: SPATIOTEMPORAL ELECTRON EVOLUTION Shuster, J. R.; Chen, L. -J.; Hesse, M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 42, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL063601	journal	April 2015
Quantifying gyrotropy in magnetic reconnection Swisdak, M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL066980	journal	January 2016
Electron distribution functions in the diffusion region of asymmetric magnetic reconnection: DISTRIBUTION IN ASYMMETRIC RECONNECTION Bessho, N.; Chen, L. -J.; Hesse, M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL067886	journal	March 2016
Estimates of terms in Ohm's law during an encounter with an electron diffusion region: ESTIMATES OF TERMS IN OHM'S LAW Torbert, R. B.; Burch, J. L.; Giles, B. L. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL069553	journal	June 2016
Hodographic approach for determining spacecraft trajectories through magnetic reconnection diffusion regions: HODOGRAPHIC TRAJECTORY ALGORITHM Shuster, J. R.; Argall, M. R.; Torbert, R. B. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 44, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL072570	journal	February 2017
Electron Dynamics Within the Electron Diffusion Region of Asymmetric Reconnection Argall, M. R.; Paulson, K.; Alm, L. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024524	journal	January 2018
The Magnetospheric Multiscale Magnetometers Russell, C. T.; Anderson, B. J.; Baumjohann, W. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 199, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-014-0057-3	journal	August 2014
The FIELDS Instrument Suite on MMS: Scientific Objectives, Measurements, and Data Products Torbert, R. B.; Russell, C. T.; Magnes, W. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 199, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-014-0109-8	journal	November 2014
The Axial Double Probe and Fields Signal Processing for the MMS Mission Ergun, R. E.; Tucker, S.; Westfall, J. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 199, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-014-0115-x	journal	December 2014
The Spin-Plane Double Probe Electric Field Instrument for MMS Lindqvist, P. -A.; Olsson, G.; Torbert, R. B. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 199, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-014-0116-9	journal	November 2014
Magnetospheric Multiscale Overview and Science Objectives Burch, J. L.; Moore, T. E.; Torbert, R. B. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 199, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0164-9	journal	May 2015
Fast Plasma Investigation for Magnetospheric Multiscale Pollock, C.; Moore, T.; Jacques, A. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 199, Issue 1-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-016-0245-4	journal	March 2016
On Landau damping Mouhot, Clément; Villani, Cédric Acta Mathematica, Vol. 207, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11511-011-0068-9	journal	January 2011
Scaling of the maximum-entropy turbulence energy spectra Lee, T. -W. European Journal of Mechanics - B/Fluids, Vol. 87 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euromechflu.2021.01.011	journal	May 2021
The H-theorem for the entropy of waves Kawamori, Eiichirou Physics Letters A, Vol. 400 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2021.127315	journal	June 2021
Ion and electron heating during magnetic reconnection in weakly collisional plasmas Numata, Ryusuke; Loureiro, N. F. Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 81, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1017/S002237781400107X	journal	November 2014
Kinetic entropy-based measures of distribution function non-Maxwellianity: theory and simulations Liang, Haoming; Barbhuiya, M. Hasan; Cassak, P. A. Journal of Plasma Physics, Vol. 86, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022377820001270	journal	October 2020
Selected Problems in Collisionless-Shock Physics Lembege, B.; Giacalone, J.; Scholer, M. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 110, Issue 3/4 https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SPAC.0000023372.12232.b7	journal	January 2004
Three-dimensional particle simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection Zeiler, A. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 107, Issue A9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JA000287	journal	January 2002
Suprathermal electron acceleration in magnetic reconnection Hoshino, M.; Mukai, T.; Terasawa, T. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 106, Issue A11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JA900052	journal	November 2001
Intermittent MHD structures and classical discontinuities Greco, A.; Chuychai, P.; Matthaeus, W. H. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 35, Issue 19 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL035454	journal	January 2008
Electron diffusion region and thermal demagnetization: EDR DEMAGNETIZATION OF THERMAL ELECTRONS Scudder, J. D.; Holdaway, R. D.; Glassberg, R. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 113, Issue A10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JA013361	journal	October 2008
Evidence and theory for trapped electrons in guide field magnetotail reconnection: TRAPPED ELECTRONS IN GUIDE FIELD RECONNECTION Egedal, J.; Fox, W.; Katz, N. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 113, Issue A12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JA013520	journal	December 2008
Boltzmann H function and entropy in the plasma sheet : ENTROPY IN THE PLASMA SHEET Kaufmann, Richard L.; Paterson, William R. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 114, Issue A9 https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JA014030	journal	May 2009
Cause of super-thermal electron heating during magnetotail reconnection: SUPER-THERMAL ELECTRONS HEATING Egedal, J.; Lê, A.; Zhu, Y. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 37, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043487	journal	May 2010
Intense Electric Fields and Electron-Scale Substructure Within Magnetotail Flux Ropes as Revealed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Stawarz, J. E.; Eastwood, J. P.; Genestreti, K. J. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 17 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL079095	journal	September 2018
Magnetospheric Multiscale Dayside Reconnection Electron Diffusion Region Events Webster, J. M.; Burch, J. L.; Reiff, P. H. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025245	journal	June 2018
How Accurately Can We Measure the Reconnection Rate E _M for the MMS Diffusion Region Event of 11 July 2017? Genestreti, K. J.; Nakamura, T. K. M.; Nakamura, R. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025711	journal	November 2018
Measurement of the Magnetic Reconnection Rate in the Earth's Magnetotail Nakamura, T. K. M.; Genestreti, K. J.; Liu, Y. ‐H. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025713	journal	November 2018
Oblique Ion-Scale Magnetotail Flux Ropes Generated by Secondary Tearing Modes Teh, Wai-Leong; Nakamura, Takuma; Nakamura, Rumi Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025775	journal	October 2018
Magnetic Reconnection in the Space Sciences: Past, Present, and Future Hesse, M.; Cassak, P. A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA025935	journal	January 2020
Structure of the Current Sheet in the 11 July 2017 Electron Diffusion Region Event Nakamura, Rumi; Genestreti, Kevin J.; Nakamura, Takuma Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 124, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA026028	journal	February 2019
Reconstruction of the Electron Diffusion Region of Magnetotail Reconnection Seen by the MMS Spacecraft on 11 July 2017 Hasegawa, H.; Denton, R. E.; Nakamura, R. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 124, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA026051	journal	January 2019
Energy Balance and Time Dependence of a Magnetotail Electron Diffusion Region Payne, D. S.; Genestreti, K. J.; Germaschewski, K. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JA028290	journal	November 2020
The Importance of Electron Landau Damping for the Dissipation of Turbulent Energy in Terrestrial Magnetosheath Plasma Afshari, A. S.; Howes, G. G.; Kletzing, C. A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 126, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JA029578	journal	December 2021
Structures in the terms of the Vlasov equation observed at Earth’s magnetopause Shuster, J. R.; Gershman, D. J.; Dorelli, J. C. Nature Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-021-01280-6	journal	July 2021
Entropy of radiation: the unseen side of light Delgado-Bonal, Alfonso Scientific Reports, Vol. 7, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-01622-6	journal	May 2017
Multispacecraft observations of the electron current sheet, neighboring magnetic islands, and electron acceleration during magnetotail reconnection Chen, Li-Jen; Bessho, Naoki; Lefebvre, Bertrand Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 16, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3112744	journal	May 2009
The inversion layer of electric fields and electron phase-space-hole structure during two-dimensional collisionless magnetic reconnection Chen, Li-Jen; Daughton, William S.; Lefebvre, Bertrand Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3529365	journal	January 2011
The inner structure of collisionless magnetic reconnection: The electron-frame dissipation measure and Hall fields Zenitani, Seiji; Hesse, Michael; Klimas, Alex Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 18, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3662430	journal	December 2011
Electron nongyrotropy in the context of collisionless magnetic reconnection Aunai, Nicolas; Hesse, Michael; Kuznetsova, Maria Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4820953	journal	September 2013
Reversible collisionless magnetic reconnection Ishizawa, A.; Watanabe, T. -H. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 20, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4826201	journal	October 2013
A prospectus on kinetic heliophysics Howes, Gregory G. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 24, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4983993	journal	May 2017
Bi-Maxwellian, slowing-down, and ring velocity distributions of fast ions in magnetized plasmas Moseev, Dmitry; Salewski, Mirko Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5085429	journal	February 2019
Decomposition of plasma kinetic entropy into position and velocity space and the use of kinetic entropy in particle-in-cell simulations Liang, Haoming; Cassak, Paul A.; Servidio, Sergio Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5098888	journal	August 2019
Three‐dimensional fluid simulations of the nonlinear drift‐resistive ballooning modes in tokamak edge plasmas Guzdar, P. N.; Drake, J. F.; McCarthy, D. Physics of Fluids B: Plasma Physics, Vol. 5, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.860842	journal	October 1993
Incoherent Thomson scattering system for PHAse space MApping (PHASMA) experiment Shi, Peiyun; Srivastav, Prabhakar; Beatty, Cuyler Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 92, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0040606	journal	March 2021
Turbulence in space plasmas: Who needs it? Matthaeus, W. H. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 28, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0041540	journal	March 2021
The reversibility of magnetic reconnection Xuan, M.; Swisdak, M.; Drake, J. F. Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 28, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0050575	journal	September 2021
Estimating Effective Collision Frequency and Kinetic Entropy Uncertainty in Particle-in-Cell Simulations Liang, Haoming; Cassak, P. A.; Swisdak, M. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 1620 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1620/1/012009	journal	September 2020
Inhomogeneous kinetic effects related to intermittent magnetic discontinuities Greco, A.; Valentini, F.; Servidio, S. Physical Review E, Vol. 86, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.86.066405	journal	December 2012
Kinetic Structure of the Electron Diffusion Region in Antiparallel Magnetic Reconnection Ng, J.; Egedal, J.; Le, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 106, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.065002	journal	February 2011
Entropy Generation across Earth’s Collisionless Bow Shock Parks, G. K.; Lee, E.; McCarthy, M. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.061102	journal	February 2012
Spacecraft Observations and Analytic Theory of Crescent-Shaped Electron Distributions in Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection Egedal, J.; Le, A.; Daughton, W. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 117, Issue 18 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.185101	journal	October 2016
Magnetospheric Multiscale Observation of Plasma Velocity-Space Cascade: Hermite Representation and Theory Servidio, S.; Chasapis, A.; Matthaeus, W. H. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 119, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.205101	journal	November 2017
Pressure Tensor Elements Breaking the Frozen-In Law During Reconnection in Earth’s Magnetotail Egedal, J.; Ng, J.; Le, A. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 123, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.225101	journal	November 2019
Thermodynamic Phase Transition in Magnetic Reconnection Jara-Almonte, J.; Ji, H. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 127, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.055102	journal	July 2021
Electromagnetic Energy Conversion at Reconnection Fronts Angelopoulos, V.; Runov, A.; Zhou, X. - Z. Science, Vol. 341, Issue 6153 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1236992	journal	September 2013
Electron-scale measurements of magnetic reconnection in space Burch, J. L.; Torbert, R. B.; Phan, T. D. Science, Vol. 352, Issue 6290 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaf2939	journal	May 2016
Electron-scale dynamics of the diffusion region during symmetric magnetic reconnection in space Torbert, R. B.; Burch, J. L.; Phan, T. D. Science, Vol. 362, Issue 6421 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat2998	journal	November 2018
Magnetic Reconnection in Astrophysical and Laboratory Plasmas Zweibel, Ellen G.; Yamada, Masaaki Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 47, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-astro-082708-101726	journal	September 2009
Reconnecting Magnetic Fields Burch, James; Drake, James American Scientist, Vol. 97, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1511/2009.80.392	journal	January 2009
Plasma Physics via Computer Simulation Birdsall, C. K.; Langdon, A. B. https://doi.org/10.1887/0750301171	book	January 1991
MMS SITL Ground Loop: Automating the Burst Data Selection Process Argall, Matthew R.; Small, Colin R.; Piatt, Samantha Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, Vol. 7 https://doi.org/10.3389/fspas.2020.00054	journal	September 2020
In Situ Observation of Intermittent Dissipation at Kinetic Scales in the Earth's Magnetosheath Chasapis, Alexandros; Matthaeus, W. H.; Parashar, T. N. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 856, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aaadf8	journal	March 2018
Energy Balance and Time Dependence of a Magnetotail Electron Diffusion Region Payne, Dominic; Genestreti, Kevin; Germaschewski, Kai Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4022436	dataset	January 2020
Data for Theory, Observations, and Simulations of Kinetic Entropy in a Magnetotail Electron Diffusion Region Argall, Matthew R.; Barbhuiya, M. Hasan; Cassak, Paul A. Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5645453	dataset	January 2021

Similar Records

Kinetic entropy-based measures of distribution function non-Maxwellianity: theory and simulations

Journal Article · 2020 · Journal of Plasma Physics · OSTI ID:1755869

Liang, Haoming; Barbhuiya, M. Hasan; Cassak, P. A.; +4 more

Reconstruction of Electron and Ion Distribution Functions in a Magnetotail Reconnection Diffusion Region

Journal Article · 2020 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics · OSTI ID:1842962

Ng, Jonathan; Chen, Li‐Jen; Hakim, Ammar; +1 more

Measurement of the Magnetic Reconnection Rate in the Earth's Magnetotail

Journal Article · 2018 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics · OSTI ID:1483547

Nakamura, Takuma K. M.; Genestreti, K. J.; Liu, Yi -Hsin; +8 more

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
Electromagnetism
Energy conversion
Entropy
Equilibrium thermodynamics
Magnetic energy
Magnetic reconnection
Magnetospheric dynamics
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution
Particle-in-cell method
Spacecrafts

Title: Theory, observations, and simulations of kinetic entropy in a magnetotail electron diffusion region

Citation Formats

References (70)

Linked Research (1)

Similar Records

Related Subjects