Subion-Scale Turbulence Driven by Magnetic Reconnection

The interplay between plasma turbulence and magnetic reconnection remains an unsettled question in astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. Here, we report the first observational evidence that magnetic reconnection drives subion-scale turbulence in magnetospheric plasmas by transferring energy to small scales. We employ a spatial "coarse-grained" model of Hall magnetohydrodynamics, enabling us to measure the nonlinear energy transfer rate across scale ℓ at position x. Its application to Magnetospheric Multiscale mission data shows that magnetic reconnection drives intense energy transfer to subion-scales. This observational evidence is remarkably supported by the results from Hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell simulations of turbulence to which the coarse-grained model is also applied. These results can potentially answer some open questions on plasma turbulence in planetary environments.

Energized Oxygen in the Magnetotail: Onset and Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection

Oxygen ions are a major constituent of magnetospheric plasma, yet the role of oxygen in processes such as magnetic reconnection continues to be poorly understood. Observations show that significant amounts of energized O⁺ can be present in a magnetotail current sheet (CS). A population of thermal O⁺ only has a relatively minor effect on magnetic reconnection. Despite this, published studies have so far only concentrated on the role of the low-energy thermal O⁺. We present a study of magnetic reconnection in a thinning CS with energized O⁺ present. Well-established, three-species, 2.5D particle-in-cell (PIC) kinetic simulations are used. Simulations of thermal H⁺ and thermal O⁺ validate our setup against published results. We then energize a thermal background O⁺ based on published in situ measurements. A range of energization is applied to the background O⁺. We discuss the effects of energized O⁺ on CS thinning and the onset and evolution of magnetic reconnection. The presence of energized O⁺ causes a two-regime onset response in a thinning CS. As energization increases in the lower-regime, reconnection develops at a single primary X-line, increases time-to-onset, and suppresses the rate of evolution. As energization continues to increase in the higher-regime, reconnection develops at multiple X-lines, forming a stochastic plasmoid chain; decreases time-to-onset; and enhances evolution via a plasmoid instability. Energized O⁺ drives a depletion of the background H⁺ around the central CS. As the energization increases, the CS thinning begins to slow and eventually reverses.

Direct observations of pure electron outflow in magnetic reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is a universal process in space, astrophysical, and laboratory plasmas. It alters magnetic field topology and results in energy release to the plasma. Here we report the experimental results of a pure electron outflow in magnetic reconnection, which is not accompanied with ion flows. By controlling an applied magnetic field in a laser produced plasma, we have constructed an experiment that magnetizes the electrons but not the ions. This allows us to isolate the electron dynamics from the ions. Collective Thomson scattering measurements reveal the electron Alfvénic outflow without ion outflow. The resultant plasmoid and whistler waves are observed with the magnetic induction probe measurements. We observe the unique features of electron-scale magnetic reconnection simultaneously in laser produced plasmas, including global structures, local plasma parameters, magnetic field, and waves.

Properties of Hall-MHD Turbulence at Sub-Ion Scales: Spectral Transfer Analysis

We present results of a multiscale study of Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence, carried out on a dataset of compressible nonlinear 2D Hall-MHD numerical simulations of decaying Alfvénic turbulence. For the first time, we identify two distinct regimes of fully developed turbulence. In the first one, the power spectrum of the turbulent magnetic fluctuations at sub-ion scales exhibits a power law with a slope of ∼−2.9, typically observed both in solar wind and in magnetosheath turbulence. The second regime, instead, shows a slope of −7/3, in agreement with classical theoretical models of Hall-MHD turbulence. A spectral-transfer analysis reveals that the latter regime occurs when the energy transfer rate at sub-ion scales is dominated by the Hall term, whereas in the former regime, the governing process is the dissipation (and the system exhibits large intermittency). Results of this work are relevant to the space plasma community, as they may potentially reconcile predictions from theoretical models with results from numerical simulations and spacecraft observations.

Statistical analysis of stochastic magnetic fields

Previous work has introduced scale-split energy density ψ_{l,L}(x,t)=1/2B_{l}·B_{L} for vector field B(x,t) coarse grained at scales l and L, in order to quantify the field stochasticity or spatial complexity. In this formalism, the L_{p} norms S_{p}(t)=1/2||1-B[over ̂]_{l}·B[over ̂]_{L}||_{p}, pth-order stochasticity level, and E_{p}(t)=1/2||B_{l}B_{L}||_{p}, pth order mean cross energy density, are used to analyze the evolution of the stochastic field B(x,t). Application to turbulent magnetic fields leads to the prediction that turbulence in general tends to tangle an initially smooth magnetic field increasing the magnetic stochasticity level, ∂_{t}S_{p}>0. An increasing magnetic stochasticity in turn leads to disalignments of the coarse-grained fields B_{d} at smaller scales, d≪L, thus they average to weaker fields B_{L} at larger scales upon coarse graining, i.e., ∂_{t}E_{p}<0. Magnetic field resists the tangling effect of the turbulence by means of magnetic tension force. This can lead at some point to a sudden slippage between the field and fluid, decreasing the stochasticity ∂_{t}S_{p}<0 and increasing the energy ∂_{t}E_{p}>0 by aligning small-scale fields B_{d}. Thus the maxima (minima) of magnetic stochasticity are expected to approximately coincide with the minima (maxima) of cross energy density, occurrence of which corresponds to slippage of the magnetic field through the fluid. In this formalism, magnetic reconnection and field-fluid slippage both correspond to T_{p}=∂_{t}S_{p}=0and∂_{t}T_{2}<0. Previous work has also linked field-fluid slippage to magnetic reconnection invoking totally different approaches. In this paper, (a) we test these theoretical predictions numerically using a homogeneous, incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation. Apart from expected small-scale deviations, possibly due to, e.g., intermittency and strong field annihilation, the theoretically predicted global relationship between stochasticity and cross energy is observed in different subvolumes of the simulation box. This indicate ubiquitous local field-fluid slippage and reconnection events in MHD turbulence. In addition, (b) we show that the conditions T_{p}=∂_{t}S_{p}=0and∂_{t}T_{p}<0 lead to sudden increases in kinetic stochasticity level, i.e., τ_{p}=∂_{t}s_{p}(t)>0 with s_{p}(t)=1/2||1-u[over ̂]_{l}.u[over ̂]_{L}||_{p}, which may correspond to fluid jets spontaneously driven by sudden field-fluid slippage-magnetic reconnection. Otherwise, they may correspond only to field-fluid slippage without energy dissipation. This picture, therefore, suggests defining reconnection as field-fluid slippage (changes in S_{p}) accompanied with magnetic energy dissipation (changes in E_{p}). All in all, these provide a statistical approach to the reconnection in terms of the time evolution of magnetic and kinetic stochasticities, S_{p} and s_{p}, their time derivatives, T_{p}=∂_{t}S_{p}, τ_{p}=∂_{t}s_{p}, and corresponding cross energies, E_{p}, e_{p}(t)=1/2||u_{l}u_{L}||_{p}. Furthermore, (c) we introduce the scale-split magnetic helicity based on which we discuss the energy or stochasticity relaxation of turbulent magnetic fields-a generalized Taylor relaxation. Finally, (d) we construct and numerically test a toy model, which resembles a classical version of quantum mean field Ising model for magnetized fluids, in order to illustrate how turbulent energy can affect magnetic stochasticity in the weak field regime.

Structure of the Current Sheet in the 11 July 2017 Electron Diffusion Region Event

The structure of the current sheet along the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) orbit is examined during the 11 July 2017 Electron Diffusion Region (EDR) event. The location of MMS relative to the X-line is deduced and used to obtain the spatial changes in the electron parameters. The electron velocity gradient values are used to estimate the reconnection electric field sustained by nongyrotropic pressure. It is shown that the observations are consistent with theoretical expectations for an inner EDR in 2-D reconnection. That is, the magnetic field gradient scale, where the electric field due to electron nongyrotropic pressure dominates, is comparable to the gyroscale of the thermal electrons at the edge of the inner EDR. Our approximation of the MMS observations using a steady state, quasi-2-D, tailward retreating X-line was valid only for about 1.4 s. This suggests that the inner EDR is localized; that is, electron outflow jet braking takes place within an ion inertia scale from the X-line. The existence of multiple events or current sheet processes outside the EDR may play an important role in the geometry of reconnection in the near-Earth magnetotail.

Modification of magnetohydrodynamic waves by the relativistic Hall effect

This study shows that a relativistic Hall effect significantly changes the properties of wave propagation by deriving a linear dispersion relation for relativistic Hall magnetohydrodynamics (HMHD). Whereas, in nonrelativistic HMHD, the phase and group velocities of fast magnetosonic wave become anisotropic with an increasing Hall effect, the relativistic Hall effect brings upper bounds to the anisotropies. The Alfvén wave group velocity with strong Hall effect also becomes less anisotropic than the nonrelativistic case. Moreover, the group velocity surfaces of Alfvén and fast waves coalesce into a single surface in the direction other than near perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. It is also remarkable that a characteristic scale length of the relativistic HMHD depends on ion temperature, magnetic field strength, and density while the nonrelativistic HMHD scale length, i.e., ion skin depth, depends only on density. The modified characteristic scale length increases as the ion temperature increases and decreases as the magnetic field strength increases.

Perspectives on magnetic reconnection

Magnetic reconnection is a topological rearrangement of magnetic field that occurs on time scales much faster than the global magnetic diffusion time. Since the field lines break on microscopic scales but energy is stored and the field is driven on macroscopic scales, reconnection is an inherently multi-scale process that often involves both magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and kinetic phenomena. In this article, we begin with the MHD point of view and then describe the dynamics and energetics of reconnection using a two-fluid formulation. We also focus on the respective roles of global and local processes and how they are coupled. We conclude that the triggers for reconnection are mostly global, that the key energy conversion and dissipation processes are either local or global, and that the presence of a continuum of scales coupled from microscopic to macroscopic may be the most likely path to fast reconnection.

Role of Ion Kinetic Physics in the Interaction of Magnetic Flux Ropes

To explain many natural magnetized plasma phenomena, it is crucial to understand how rates of collisionless magnetic reconnection scale in large magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) scale systems. Simulations of isolated current sheets conclude such rates are independent of system size and can be reproduced by the Hall-MHD model, but neglect sheet formation and coupling to MHD scales. Here, it is shown for the problem of flux-rope merging, which includes this formation and coupling, that the Hall-MHD model fails to reproduce the kinetic results. The minimum sufficient model must retain ion kinetic effects, which set the ion diffusion region geometry and give time-averaged rates that reduce significantly with system size, leading to different global evolution in large systems.

Intermittency, nonlinear dynamics and dissipation in the solar wind and astrophysical plasmas

An overview is given of important properties of spatial and temporal intermittency, including evidence of its appearance in fluids, magnetofluids and plasmas, and its implications for understanding of heliospheric plasmas. Spatial intermittency is generally associated with formation of sharp gradients and coherent structures. The basic physics of structure generation is ideal, but when dissipation is present it is usually concentrated in regions of strong gradients. This essential feature of spatial intermittency in fluids has been shown recently to carry over to the realm of kinetic plasma, where the dissipation function is not known from first principles. Spatial structures produced in intermittent plasma influence dissipation, heating, and transport and acceleration of charged particles. Temporal intermittency can give rise to very long time correlations or a delayed approach to steady-state conditions, and has been associated with inverse cascade or quasi-inverse cascade systems, with possible implications for heliospheric prediction.

Cancellation properties in Hall magnetohydrodynamics with a strong guide magnetic field

We present a signed measure analysis of compressible Hall magnetohydrodynamic turbulence with an external guide field. Signed measure analysis allows us to characterize the scaling behavior of the sign-oscillating flow structures and their geometrical properties (fractal dimensions of structures). A reduced numerical model, valid when a strong guide magnetic field is present, is used here. In order to discuss the effect of the Hall term, different values for the ion skin depth are considered in the simulations. Results show that as the Hall term is increased, the fractal dimension of the current and vorticity sheets decreases. This observation, together with previous analysis of the same fields, provides a comprehensive description of the effect of the Hall force on the formation of structures. Two main processes are identified, namely, the widening and unraveling of the sheets.

Plasmoid ejection and secondary current sheet generation from magnetic reconnection in laser-plasma interaction

Reconnection of the self-generated magnetic fields in laser-plasma interaction was first investigated experimentally by Nilson et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 255001 (2006)] by shining two laser pulses a distance apart on a solid target layer. An elongated current sheet (CS) was observed in the plasma between the two laser spots. In order to more closely model magnetotail reconnection, here two side-by-side thin target layers, instead of a single one, are used. It is found that at one end of the elongated CS a fanlike electron outflow region including three well-collimated electron jets appears. The (>1 MeV) tail of the jet energy distribution exhibits a power-law scaling. The enhanced electron acceleration is attributed to the intense inductive electric field in the narrow electron dominated reconnection region, as well as additional acceleration as they are trapped inside the rapidly moving plasmoid formed in and ejected from the CS. The ejection also induces a secondary CS.

Whistler mode based explanation for the fast reconnection rate measured in the mit versatile toroidal facility

Despite the widely discussed role of whistler waves in mediating magnetic reconnection (MR), the direct connection between such waves and the MR has not been demonstrated by comparing the characteristic temporal and spatial features of the waves and the MR process. Using the whistler wave dispersion relation, we theoretically predict the experimentally measured rise time (τ(rise)) of a few microseconds for the fast rising MR rate in the Versatile Toroidal Facility at MIT. The rise time is closely given by the inverse of the frequency bandwidth of the whistler waves generated in the evolving current sheet. The wave frequencies lie much above the ion cyclotron frequency, but they are limited to less than 0.1% of the electron cyclotron frequency in the argon plasma. The maximum normalized MR rate R=0.35 measured experimentally is precisely predicted by the angular dispersion of the whistler waves.

Transition from collisional to kinetic regimes in large-scale reconnection layers

Using fully kinetic simulations with a Fokker-Planck collision operator, it is demonstrated that Sweet-Parker reconnection layers are unstable to plasmoids (secondary islands) for Lundquist numbers beyond S greater, similar 1000. The instability is increasingly violent at higher Lundquist numbers, both in terms of the number of plasmoids produced and the super-Alfvénic growth rate. A dramatic enhancement in the reconnection rate is observed when the half-thickness of the current sheet between two plasmoids approaches the ion inertial length. During this transition to kinetic scales, the reconnection electric field rapidly exceeds the runaway limit, resulting in the formation of electron-scale current layers that are unstable to the continual formation of new plasmoids.

Magnetic effects on the coalescence of Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices

We simulate the coalescence process of MHD-scale Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices with the electron inertial effects taken into account. Reconnection of highly stretched magnetic field lines within a rolled-up vortex destroys the vortex itself and the coalescence process, which is well known in ordinary fluid dynamics, is seen to be inhibited. When the magnetic field is initially antiparallel across the shear layer, on the other hand, multiple vortices are seen to coalesce continuously because another type of magnetic reconnection prevents the vortex decay. This type of reconnection at the hyperbolic point also changes the field line connectivity and thus leads to large-scale plasma mixing across the shear layer.

Identification of the electron-diffusion region during magnetic reconnection in a laboratory plasma

We report the first identification of the electron-diffusion region, where demagnetized electrons are accelerated to super-Alfvénic speed, in a reconnecting laboratory plasma. The width of the electron-diffusion region scales with the electron skin depth [ approximately (5.5-7.5)c/omega_{pe}] and the peak electron outflow velocity scales with the electron Alfvén velocity [ approximately (0.12-0.16)V_{eA}], independent of ion mass.

A theorem of existence for the equations of magnetohydrodynamics of partially ionized plasmas

The equations of magnetohydrodynamics of partially ionized plasmas have been known for a long time, but rarely studied. Instead, several simplifications have been applied to different physical models, ranging from magnetic reconnection to ambipolar drift. The original system relates the electric field to kinetic magnitudes by means of a non-local law, so that the equations describing it involve partial differentials as well as functional operators. We prove a theorem of existence and uniqueness of solutions for a finite time by means of a fixed point argument in an appropriate functional setting.

Magnetic reconnection rate in space plasmas: a fractal approach

Magnetic reconnection is generally discussed via a fluid description. Here, we evaluate the reconnection rate assuming a fractal topology of the reconnection region. The central idea is that the fluid hypothesis may be violated at the scales where reconnection takes place. The reconnection rate, expressed as the Alfvén Mach number of the plasma moving toward the diffusion region, is shown to depend on the fractal dimension and on the sizes of the reconnection or diffusion region. This mechanism is more efficient than prediction of the Sweet-Parker model and even Petschek's model for finite magnetic Reynolds number. A good agreement also with rates given by Hall MHD models is found. A discussion of the fractal assumption on the diffusion region in terms of current microstructures is proposed. The comparison with in-situ satellite observations suggests the reconnection region to be a filamentary domain.

Transport in two-fluid magnetohydrodynamic turbulence

We present a theory of transport of magnetic flux and momentum in two fluid three-dimensional reduced magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence. By including the effects of shear flows and magnetic fields consistently, we show that kinetic Alfven waves can help weaken the quenching in turbulent transport of a strong magnetic field B0 found in single fluid MHD turbulence, leading to turbulent magnetic diffusivity eta(T) proportional (eta/Omega)(1/3)B(0)(-2). Here, eta and Omega are the Ohmic diffusivity and the shearing rate of the shear flow. Momentum transport is diffusive, with the value of eddy viscosity larger than that in single fluid MHD turbulence. The effects of drift waves are found to be weaker. Implications for the instability of shear flows are discussed.

Two-scale structure of the electron dissipation region during collisionless magnetic reconnection

Particle-in-cell simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection are presented that demonstrate that reconnection remains fast in very large systems. The electron dissipation region develops a distinct two-scale structure along the outflow direction. Consistent with fast reconnection, the length of the electron current layer stabilizes and decreases with decreasing electron mass, approaching the ion inertial length for a proton-electron plasma. Surprisingly, the electrons form a super-Alfvénic outflow jet that remains decoupled from the magnetic field and extends large distances downstream from the x line.

Formation of inner structure of a reconnection separatrix region

We present multipoint spacecraft observations at the dayside magnetopause of a magnetic reconnection separatrix region. This region separates two plasmas with significantly different temperatures and densities, at a large distance from the X line. We identify which terms in the generalized Ohm's law balance the observed electric field throughout the separatrix region. The electric field inside a thin approximately c/omega pi Hall layer is balanced by the j x B/ne term while other terms dominate elsewhere. On the low density side of the region we observe a density cavity which forms due to the escape of magnetospheric electrons along the newly opened field lines. The perpendicular electric field inside the cavity constitutes a potential jump of several kV. The observed potential jump and field aligned currents can be responsible for strong aurora.

Coupling between global geometry and the local hall effect leading to reconnection-layer symmetry breaking

The coupling between the global reconnection geometry and the local microphysics, caused by the Hall effect, is studied during counterhelicity plasma merging in the magnetic reconnection experiment. The structure of the reconnection layer is significantly modified by reversing the sign of the toroidal fields, which affects the manifestation of the Hall effect in the collisionless regime. The local two-fluids physics changes the global boundary conditions, and this combination effect consequently provides different reconnection rates, magnetic field structure, and plasma flow patterns for two different counterhelicity merging cases in the collisionless regime.

Suppression of Hall-term effects by gyroviscous cancellation in steady collisionless magnetic reconnection

The formation of an ion-dissipation region, in which motions of electrons and ions decouple and fast magnetic reconnection occurs, is demonstrated during a steady state of two-dimensional collisionless driven reconnection by means of full-particle simulations. The Hall-term effect is suppressed due to the gyroviscous cancellation at scales between the ion-skin depth and ion-meandering-orbit scale, and thus ions are tied to the magnetic field. The ion frozen-in constraint is strongly broken by nongyrotropic pressure tensor effects due to ion-meandering motion, and thus the ion-dissipation region is formed at scales below the ion-meandering-orbit scale. A similar process is observed in the formation of an electron-dissipation region. These two dissipation regions are clearly observed in an out-of-plane current density profile.

In situ discovery of an electrostatic potential, trapping electrons and mediating fast reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail

Anisotropic electron phase space distributions, f, measured by the Wind spacecraft in a rare crossing of a diffusion region in Earth's far magnetotail (60 Earth radii), are analyzed. We use the measured f to probe the electrostatic and magnetic geometry of the diffusion region. For the first time, the presence of a strong electrostatic potential (1 kV) within the ion diffusion region is revealed. This potential has far reaching implications for the reconnection process; it accounts for the observed acceleration of the unmagnetized ions out of the reconnection region and it causes all thermal electrons be trapped electrostatically. The trapped electron motion implies that the thermal part of the electron distributions are symmetric around v( parallel)=0: f(v( parallel),v( perpendicular)) approximately f(-v( parallel),v( perpendicular)). It follows that the field aligned currents in the diffusion region are limited and fast magnetic reconnection is mediated.

Hall magnetic reconnection rate

Two-dimensional Hall magnetohydrodynamic simulations are used to determine the magnetic reconnection rate in the Hall limit. The simulations are run until a steady state is achieved for four initial current sheet thicknesses: L=1,5,10, and 20c/omega(pi), where c/omega(pi) is the ion inertial length. It is found that the asymptotic (i.e., time independent) state of the system is nearly independent of the initial current sheet width. Specifically, the Hall reconnection rate is weakly dependent on the initial current layer width and is partial differential Phi/ partial differential t less, similar 0.1V(A0)B0, where Phi the reconnected flux, and V(A0) and B0 are the Alfvén velocity and magnetic field strength in the upstream region. Moreover, this rate appears to be independent of the scale length on which the electron "frozen-in" condition is broken (as long as it is <c/omega(pi)) and of the system size.

Structure of the magnetic reconnection diffusion region from four-spacecraft observations

Magnetic reconnection leads to energy conversion in large volumes in space but is initiated in small diffusion regions. Because of the small sizes of the diffusion regions, their crossings by spacecraft are rare. We report four-spacecraft observations of a diffusion region encounter at the Earth's magnetopause that allow us to reliably distinguish spatial from temporal features. We find that the diffusion region is stable on ion time and length scales in agreement with numerical simulations. The electric field normal to the current sheet is balanced by the Hall term in the generalized Ohm's law, E(n) approximately jxB/ne.n, thus establishing that Hall physics is dominating inside the diffusion region. The reconnection rate is fast, approximately 0.1. We show that strong parallel currents flow along the separatrices; they are correlated with observations of high-frequency Langmuir/upper hybrid waves.

Driven reconnection about a magnetic X-line with strong guide component

A two-dimensional, two-fluid model is used to investigate driven magnetic reconnection in collisionless or semicollisional plasmas. The reconnection is driven by externally induced plasma flows in a background magnetic configuration that has a hyperbolic null component in the reconnection plane and a strong component, the so-called guide component, perpendicular to that plane. A dynamic solution is obtained in which the reconnection proceeds in two phases: an initial one whose characteristic rate is a fraction of the Alfvén frequency, and a later one whose rate is determined by the electron collision frequency.

Evidence of diffusion regions at a subsolar magnetopause crossing

On 1 April 2001, the Polar satellite crossed a subsolar magnetopause associated with antiparallel magnetic fields. Over a width approximately 6 magnetosheath ion skin depths (approximately 3 magnetospheric ion skin depths), perpendicular ion flows different from E x B/B(2) as well as Hall magnetic and electric field signatures were observed. At a smaller scale, the electron flow decoupled from the magnetic field near a deep minimum in the magnetic field strength. Separatrices were identified as boundaries of low frequency electric field turbulence associated with density minima and parallel electric fields. The reconnection rate was less than 2% of the asymptotic Alfvén speed.

Role of dispersive waves in collisionless magnetic reconnection

Simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection show a dramatic enhancement of the nonlinear reconnection rate due to the formation of an open outflow region. We link the formation of this open configuration to dispersive whistler and kinetic Alfvén wave dynamics at small scales. The roles of these two waves are controlled by two dimensionless parameters, which allow us to identify regions of fast and slow reconnection.

In situ detection of collisionless reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail

Magnetic reconnection is the process by which magnetic field lines of opposite polarity reconfigure to a lower-energy state, with the release of magnetic energy to the surroundings. Reconnection at the Earth's dayside magnetopause and in the magnetotail allows the solar wind into the magnetosphere. It begins in a small 'diffusion region', where a kink in the newly reconnected lines produces jets of plasma away from the region. Although plasma jets from reconnection have previously been reported, the physical processes that underlie jet formation have remained poorly understood because of the scarcity of in situ observations of the minuscule diffusion region. Theoretically, both resistive and collisionless processes can initiate reconnection, but which process dominates in the magnetosphere is still debated. Here we report the serendipitous encounter of the Wind spacecraft with an active reconnection diffusion region, in which are detected key processes predicted by models of collisionless reconnection. The data therefore demonstrate that collisionless reconnection occurs in the magnetotail.

Rapid magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetosphere mediated by whistler waves

Magnetic reconnection has a crucial role in a variety of plasma environments in providing a mechanism for the fast release of stored magnetic energy. During reconnection the plasma forms a 'magnetic nozzle', like the nozzle of a hose, and the rate is controlled by how fast plasma can flow out of the nozzle. But the traditional picture of reconnection has been unable to explain satisfactorily the short timescales associated with the energy release, because the flow is mediated by heavy ions with a slow resultant velocity. Recent theoretical work has suggested that the energy release is instead mediated by electrons in waves called 'whistlers', which move much faster for a given perturbation of the magnetic field because of their smaller mass. Moreover, the whistler velocity and associated plasma velocity both increase as the 'nozzle' becomes narrower. A narrower nozzle therefore no longer reduces the total plasma flow-the outflow is independent of the size of the nozzle. Here we report observations demonstrating that reconnection in the magnetosphere is driven by whistlers, in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.