Intermittent energy dissipation by turbulent reconnection
File(s)Fu_manuscript-MergedFile.pdf (2.44 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Magnetic reconnection—the process responsible for many explosive phenomena in both nature and laboratory—is efficient at dissipating magnetic energy into particle energy. To date, exactly how this dissipation happens remains unclear, owing to the scarcity of multipoint measurements of the “diffusion region” at the sub-ion scale. Here we report such a measurement by Cluster—four spacecraft with separation of 1/5 ion scale. We discover numerous current filaments and magnetic nulls inside the diffusion region of magnetic reconnection, with the strongest currents appearing at spiral nulls (O-lines) and the separatrices. Inside each current filament, kinetic-scale turbulence is significantly increased and the energy dissipation, E′ ⋅ j, is 100 times larger than the typical value. At the jet reversal point, where radial nulls (X-lines) are detected, the current, turbulence, and energy dissipations are surprisingly small. All these features clearly demonstrate that energy dissipation in magnetic reconnection occurs at O-lines but not X-lines.
Date Issued
2017-01-16
Date Acceptance
2016-12-06
Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, 2017, 44 (1), pp.37-43
ISSN
1944-8007
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Start Page
37
End Page
43
Journal / Book Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume
44
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
An edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright © 2017 American Geophysical Union.
Sponsor
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Science and Technology Facilities Council [2006-2012]
Grant Number
ST/N000692/1
ST/K001051/1
ST/K001051/1
Subjects
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2016-12-09