In situ spacecraft observations of a structured electron diffusion region during magnetopause reconnectionUniv Paris Sud, Sorbonne Univ, Observ Paris, Lab Phys Plasmas,CNRS,Ecole Polytech, F-91128 Palaiseau, France..
Swedish Inst Space Phys, SE-75121 Uppsala, Sweden..
Beihang Univ, Sch Space & Environm, Beijing 100083, Peoples R China..
Univ Paris Sud, Sorbonne Univ, Observ Paris, Lab Phys Plasmas,CNRS,Ecole Polytech, F-91128 Palaiseau, France.;Univ Calabria, Dipartimento Fis, I-87036 Arcavacata Di Rende, CS, Italy..
Univ Paris Sud, Sorbonne Univ, Observ Paris, Lab Phys Plasmas,CNRS,Ecole Polytech, F-91128 Palaiseau, France.;Univ Orleans, UMR 7328, CNRS, Lab Phys & Chim Environm & Espace, F-45071 Orleans, France..
Univ Colorado, Lab Atmospher & Space Phys, Boulder, CO 80309 USA..
Univ Colorado, Lab Atmospher & Space Phys, Boulder, CO 80309 USA..
Univ New Hampshire, Space Sci Ctr, Durham, NH 03824 USA..
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA..
Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Earth & Space Sci, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA..
Austrian Acad Sci, Space Res Inst, A-8042 Graz, Austria..
Southwest Res Inst, San Antonio, TX 78238 USA.;Univ Texas San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78238 USA..
Johns Hopkins Univ, Appl Phys Lab, Johns Hopkins Rd, Laurel, MD 20723 USA..
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA..
Southwest Res Inst, San Antonio, TX 78238 USA..
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2019 (English)In: Physical review. E, ISSN 2470-0045, E-ISSN 2470-0053, Vol. 99, no 4, article id 043204Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The electron diffusion region (EDR) is the region where magnetic reconnection is initiated and electrons are energized. Because of experimental difficulties, the structure of the EDR is still poorly understood. A key question is whether the EDR has a homogeneous or patchy structure. Here we report Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft observations providing evidence of inhomogeneous current densities and energy conversion over a few electron inertial lengths within an EDR at the terrestrial magnetopause, suggesting that the EDR can be rather structured. These inhomogenenities are revealed through multipoint measurements because the spacecraft separation is comparable to a few electron inertial lengths, allowing the entire MMS tetrahedron to be within the EDR most of the time. These observations are consistent with recent high-resolution and low-noise kinetic simulations.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
AMER PHYSICAL SOC , 2019. Vol. 99, no 4, article id 043204
National Category
Physical Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-249783DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.99.043204ISI: 000463898200002Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85064403029OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-249783DiVA, id: diva2:1307625
Note
QC 20190429
2019-04-292019-04-292019-06-18Bibliographically approved