Structure of a Perturbed Magnetic Reconnection Electron Diffusion Region in the Earth's MagnetotailShow others and affiliations
2021 (English)In: Physical Review Letters, ISSN 0031-9007, E-ISSN 1079-7114, Vol. 127, no 21, article id 215101Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
We report in situ observations of an electron diffusion region (EDR) and adjacent separatrix region in the Earth's magnetotail. We observe significant magnetic field oscillations near the lower hybrid frequency which propagate perpendicularly to the reconnection plane. We also find that the strong electron-scale gradients close to the EDR exhibit significant oscillations at a similar frequency. Such oscillations are not expected for a crossing of a steady 2D EDR, and can be explained by a complex motion of the reconnection plane induced by current sheet kinking propagating in the out-of-reconnection-plane direction. Thus, all three spatial dimensions have to be taken into account to explain the observed perturbed EDR crossing. These results shed light on the interplay between magnetic reconnection and current sheet drift instabilities in electron-scale current sheets and highlight the need for adopting a 3D description of the EDR, going beyond the two-dimensional and steady-state conception of reconnection.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
American Physical Society (APS) , 2021. Vol. 127, no 21, article id 215101
National Category
Fusion, Plasma and Space Physics Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-305638DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.215101ISI: 000720123400005PubMedID: 34860109Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85119987944OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-305638DiVA, id: diva2:1616954
Note
QC 20211206
2021-12-062021-12-062022-06-25Bibliographically approved