Manzini D, Sahraoui F, Califano F. Subion-Scale Turbulence Driven by Magnetic Reconnection.
PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2023;
130:205201. [PMID:
37267550 DOI:
10.1103/physrevlett.130.205201]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2022] [Revised: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/07/2023] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
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.
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