Upper-Hybrid Waves Driven by Meandering Electrons Around Magnetic Reconnection X LineUniv Bergen, Dept Phys & Technol, Bergen, Norway..
Swedish Inst Space Phys, Uppsala, Sweden..
Los Alamos Natl Lab, Plasma Theory & Applicat, Los Alamos, NM USA..
Univ Wisconsin, Dept Phys, 1150 Univ Ave, Madison, WI 53706 USA..
Southwest Res Inst, San Antonio, TX USA..
Beihang Univ, Sch Space & Environm, Beijing, Peoples R China..
Peking Univ, Sch Earth & Space Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China..
Southwest Res Inst, San Antonio, TX USA..
Univ Colorado, Lab Atmospher & Space Phys, Boulder, CO 80309 USA..
Univ New Hampshire, Space Sci Ctr, Durham, NH 03824 USA..
Univ Paris Sud, Lab Phys Plasmas, CNRS, Ecole Polytech,Sorbonne Univ,Observ Paris, Paris, France..
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD USA.;Univ Maryland, Dept Astron, College Pk, MD 20742 USA..
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD USA..
Univ Toulouse, Inst Rech Astrophys & Planetol, CNRS, UPS,CNES, Toulouse, France.;Univ Bordeaux, Lab Astrophys Bordeaux, CNRS, Pessac, France..
Southwest Res Inst, San Antonio, TX USA.;Univ Texas San Antonio, Dept Phys & Astron, San Antonio, TX USA..
Austrian Acad Sci, Space Res Inst, Graz, Austria..
Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Earth Planetary & Space Sci, Los Angeles, CA USA..
Chinese Acad Sci, State Key Lab Space Weather, Natl Space Sci Ctr, Beijing, Peoples R China..
Univ Sci & Technol China, CAS Key Lab Geospace Environm, Hefei, Peoples R China..
Chinese Acad Sci, State Key Lab Space Weather, Natl Space Sci Ctr, Beijing, Peoples R China.;Univ Chinese Acad Sci, Sch Astron & Space Sci, Beijing, Peoples R China..
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2021 (English)In: Geophysical Research Letters, ISSN 0094-8276, E-ISSN 1944-8007, Vol. 48, no 16, article id e2021GL093164Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in collisionless space plasma environment, and plasma waves relevant to the kinetic interactions can have a significant impact on the multiscale behavior of reconnection. Here, we present Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations during an encounter of an X line of symmetric magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail. The X line is characterized by reversals of ion and electron jets and electromagnetic fields, agyrotropic electron velocity distribution functions (VDFs), and an electron-scale current sheet. MMS observe large-amplitude nonlinear upper-hybrid (UH) waves on both sides of the neutral line, and the wave amplitudes have highly localized distribution along the normal direction. The inbound meandering electrons drive the UH waves, releasing the free energy stored from the reconnection electric field along the meandering trajectories. The interaction between the meandering electrons and the UH waves may modify the balance of the reconnection electric field around the X line. Plain Language Summary The electron-scale kinetic physics in the electron diffusion region (EDR) controls how magnetic field lines break and reconnect. Electron crescent, an indicator of EDR, can drive high-frequency electrostatic waves around EDR. For the first time, the upper-hybrid (UH) waves are observed on both sides of the X line and we show the direct association between the UH waves and the reconnection electric field. The strong wave-electron interaction can change the electron-scale dynamics and may modify the reconnection electric field. This study demonstrates that the UH waves may play an important role in controlling the reconnection rate.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Geophysical Union (AGU) , 2021. Vol. 48, no 16, article id e2021GL093164
National Category
Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-301823DOI: 10.1029/2021GL093164ISI: 000688759800030Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85113440311OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-301823DiVA, id: diva2:1594505
Note
QC 20210915
2021-09-152021-09-152022-06-25Bibliographically approved