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arXiv · 1110.3103

The inner structure of collisionless magnetic reconnection: The electron-frame dissipation measure and Hall fields

Seiji Zenitani·Michael Hesse·Alex Klimas·Carrie Black·Masha Kuznetsova
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Abstract

It was recently proposed that the electron-frame dissipation measure, the energy transfer from the electromagnetic field to plasmas in the electron's rest frame, identifies the dissipation region of collisionless magnetic reconnection [Zenitani et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 195003 (2011)]. The measure is further applied to the electron-scale structures of antiparallel reconnection, by using two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The size of the central dissipation region is controlled by the electron-ion mass ratio, suggesting that electron physics is essential. A narrow electron jet extends along the outflow direction until it reaches an electron shock. The jet region appears to be anti-dissipative. At the shock, electron heating is relevant to a magnetic cavity signature. The results are summarized to a unified picture of the single dissipation region in a Hall magnetic geometry.

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Seiji Zenitani, Michael Hesse, Alex Klimas, Carrie Black, Masha Kuznetsova. 2014-12-31. The inner structure of collisionless magnetic reconnection: The electron-frame dissipation measure and Hall fields. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3662430%2010.1063%2F1.4905516

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