Laboratory Study of Magnetic Reconnection in Lunar-relevant Mini-magnetospheres

Rovige, Lucas; Cruz, Filipe D.; Dorst, Robert S.; Pilgram, Jessica J.; Constantin, Carmen G.; Vincena, Stephen; Cruz, Fábio; Silva, Luis O.; Niemann, Christoph; Schaeffer, Derek B.

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad4fff

Title: Laboratory Study of Magnetic Reconnection in Lunar-relevant Mini-magnetospheres

Journal Article · 07 July 2024 · The Astrophysical Journal

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad4fff · OSTI ID:2395987

; Cruz, Filipe D.; Dorst, Robert S.; Pilgram, Jessica J.;

; Vincena, Stephen;

;

Abstract Mini-magnetospheres are small ion-scale structures that are well suited to studying kinetic-scale physics of collisionless space plasmas. Such ion-scale magnetospheres can be found on local regions of the Moon, associated with the lunar crustal magnetic field. In this paper, we report on the laboratory experimental study of magnetic reconnection in laser-driven, lunar-like ion-scale magnetospheres on the Large Plasma Device at the University of California, Los Angeles. In the experiment, a high-repetition rate (1 Hz), nanosecond laser is used to drive a fast-moving, collisionless plasma that expands into the field generated by a pulsed magnetic dipole embedded into a background plasma and magnetic field. The high-repetition rate enables the acquisition of time-resolved volumetric data of the magnetic and electric fields to characterize magnetic reconnection and calculate the reconnection rate. We notably observe the formation of Hall fields associated with reconnection. Particle-in-cell simulations reproducing the experimental results were performed to study the microphysics of the interaction. By analyzing the generalized Ohm’s law terms, we find that the electron-only reconnection is driven by kinetic effects through the electron pressure anisotropy. These results are compared to recent satellite measurements that found evidence of magnetic reconnection near the lunar surface.

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Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 2395987

Journal Information:: The Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 969; ISSN 0004-637X

Publisher:: American Astronomical SocietyCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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