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Ji H, Yoo J, Fox W, Yamada M, Argall M, Egedal J, Liu YH, Wilder R, Eriksson S, Daughton W, Bergstedt K, Bose S, Burch J, Torbert R, Ng J, Chen LJ. Laboratory Study of Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection. SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS 2023; 219:76. [PMID: 38023292 PMCID: PMC10651714 DOI: 10.1007/s11214-023-01024-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
A concise review is given on the past two decades' results from laboratory experiments on collisionless magnetic reconnection in direct relation with space measurements, especially by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. Highlights include spatial structures of electromagnetic fields in ion and electron diffusion regions as a function of upstream symmetry and guide field strength, energy conversion and partitioning from magnetic field to ions and electrons including particle acceleration, electrostatic and electromagnetic kinetic plasma waves with various wavelengths, and plasmoid-mediated multiscale reconnection. Combined with the progress in theoretical, numerical, and observational studies, the physics foundation of fast reconnection in collisionless plasmas has been largely established, at least within the parameter ranges and spatial scales that were studied. Immediate and long-term future opportunities based on multiscale experiments and space missions supported by exascale computation are discussed, including dissipation by kinetic plasma waves, particle heating and acceleration, and multiscale physics across fluid and kinetic scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- H. Ji
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, 08544 New Jersey USA
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, 08543 New Jersey USA
| | - J. Yoo
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, 08543 New Jersey USA
| | - W. Fox
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, 08543 New Jersey USA
| | - M. Yamada
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, 08543 New Jersey USA
| | - M. Argall
- Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, 8 College Road, Durham, 03824 New Hampshire USA
| | - J. Egedal
- Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1150 University Avenue, Madison, 53706 Wisconsin USA
| | - Y.-H. Liu
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, 17 Fayerweather Hill Road, Hanover, 03755 New Hampshire USA
| | - R. Wilder
- Department of Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, 701 S. Nedderman Drive, Arlington, 76019 Texas USA
| | - S. Eriksson
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, 80303 Colorado USA
| | - W. Daughton
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, 87545 New Mexico USA
| | - K. Bergstedt
- Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, 4 Ivy Lane, Princeton, 08544 New Jersey USA
| | - S. Bose
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, 08543 New Jersey USA
| | - J. Burch
- Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, 78238 Texas USA
| | - R. Torbert
- Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, 8 College Road, Durham, 03824 New Hampshire USA
| | - J. Ng
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, P.O. Box 451, Princeton, 08543 New Jersey USA
- Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, 4296 Stadium Drive, College Park, 20742 Maryland USA
- Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 130, Greenbelt, 20771 Maryland USA
| | - L.-J. Chen
- Goddard Space Flight Center, Mail Code 130, Greenbelt, 20771 Maryland USA
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2
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Chen LJ, Wang S, Le Contel O, Rager A, Hesse M, Drake J, Dorelli J, Ng J, Bessho N, Graham D, Wilson LB, Moore T, Giles B, Paterson W, Lavraud B, Genestreti K, Nakamura R, Khotyaintsev YV, Ergun RE, Torbert RB, Burch J, Pollock C, Russell CT, Lindqvist PA, Avanov L. Lower-Hybrid Drift Waves Driving Electron Nongyrotropic Heating and Vortical Flows in a Magnetic Reconnection Layer. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 125:025103. [PMID: 32701350 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.125.025103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We report measurements of lower-hybrid drift waves driving electron heating and vortical flows in an electron-scale reconnection layer under a guide field. Electrons accelerated by the electrostatic potential of the waves exhibit perpendicular and nongyrotropic heating. The vortical flows generate magnetic field perturbations comparable to the guide field magnitude. The measurements reveal a new regime of electron-wave interaction and how this interaction modifies the electron dynamics in the reconnection layer.
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Affiliation(s)
- L-J Chen
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - S Wang
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20747, USA
| | - O Le Contel
- CNRS/Ecole Polytechnique/Sorbonne Université/Univ. Paris Sud/Observatoire de Paris, Paris F91128, France
| | - A Rager
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - M Hesse
- University of Bergen, Bergen 5020, Norway
| | - J Drake
- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20747, USA
| | - J Dorelli
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - J Ng
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20747, USA
| | - N Bessho
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20747, USA
| | - D Graham
- Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala SE-75121, Sweden
| | - Lynn B Wilson
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - T Moore
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - B Giles
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - W Paterson
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
| | - B Lavraud
- Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse (UPS), CNRS, CNES, Toulouse 31027 Cedex 4, France
| | - K Genestreti
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
| | - R Nakamura
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz A-8042, Austria
| | | | - R E Ergun
- University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
| | - R B Torbert
- University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
| | - J Burch
- Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas 78238, USA
| | - C Pollock
- Denali Scientific, Healy, Alaska 99743, USA
| | - C T Russell
- University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
| | - P-A Lindqvist
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm SE-11428, Sweden
| | - L Avanov
- NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
- University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20747, USA
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3
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Sitnov M, Birn J, Ferdousi B, Gordeev E, Khotyaintsev Y, Merkin V, Motoba T, Otto A, Panov E, Pritchett P, Pucci F, Raeder J, Runov A, Sergeev V, Velli M, Zhou X. Explosive Magnetotail Activity. SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS 2019; 215:31. [PMID: 31178609 PMCID: PMC6528807 DOI: 10.1007/s11214-019-0599-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 04/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Modes and manifestations of the explosive activity in the Earth's magnetotail, as well as its onset mechanisms and key pre-onset conditions are reviewed. Two mechanisms for the generation of the pre-onset current sheet are discussed, namely magnetic flux addition to the tail lobes, or other high-latitude perturbations, and magnetic flux evacuation from the near-Earth tail associated with dayside reconnection. Reconnection onset may require stretching and thinning of the sheet down to electron scales. It may also start in thicker sheets in regions with a tailward gradient of the equatorial magnetic field B z ; in this case it begins as an ideal-MHD instability followed by the generation of bursty bulk flows and dipolarization fronts. Indeed, remote sensing and global MHD modeling show the formation of tail regions with increased B z , prone to magnetic reconnection, ballooning/interchange and flapping instabilities. While interchange instability may also develop in such thicker sheets, it may grow more slowly compared to tearing and cause secondary reconnection locally in the dawn-dusk direction. Post-onset transients include bursty flows and dipolarization fronts, micro-instabilities of lower-hybrid-drift and whistler waves, as well as damped global flux tube oscillations in the near-Earth region. They convert the stretched tail magnetic field energy into bulk plasma acceleration and collisionless heating, excitation of a broad spectrum of plasma waves, and collisional dissipation in the ionosphere. Collisionless heating involves ion reflection from fronts, Fermi, betatron as well as other, non-adiabatic, mechanisms. Ionospheric manifestations of some of these magnetotail phenomena are discussed. Explosive plasma phenomena observed in the laboratory, the solar corona and solar wind are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikhail Sitnov
- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD USA
| | | | | | - Evgeny Gordeev
- Earth’s Physics Department, Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | | | - Viacheslav Merkin
- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD USA
| | - Tetsuo Motoba
- The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD USA
| | | | - Evgeny Panov
- Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria
| | - Philip Pritchett
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
| | - Fulvia Pucci
- National Institute for Fusion Science, National Institutes of Natural Sciences, Toki, 509-5292 Japan
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ USA
| | - Joachim Raeder
- Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH USA
| | - Andrei Runov
- Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
| | - Victor Sergeev
- Earth’s Physics Department, Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Marco Velli
- University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095 USA
| | - Xuzhi Zhou
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871 China
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Cook JWS, Chapman SC, Dendy RO. Electron current drive by fusion-product-excited lower hybrid drift instability. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2010; 105:255003. [PMID: 21231597 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.105.255003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2010] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
We present first principles simulations of the direct collisionless coupling of the free energy of fusion-born ions into electron current in a magnetically confined fusion plasma. These simulations demonstrate, for the first time, a key building block of some "alpha channeling" scenarios for tokamak experiments. Spontaneously excited obliquely propagating waves in the lower hybrid frequency range undergo Landau damping on resonant electrons, drawing out an asymmetric tail in the electron parallel velocity distribution, which carries a current.
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Affiliation(s)
- J W S Cook
- Centre for Fusion Space and Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Warwick University, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom
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Harrison MG, Neukirch T. One-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium for the force-free Harris sheet. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2009; 102:135003. [PMID: 19392364 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.102.135003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2008] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
In this Letter, the first nonlinear force-free Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium is presented. One component of the equilibrium magnetic field has the same spatial structure as the Harris sheet, but whereas the Harris sheet is kept in force balance by pressure gradients, in the force-free solution presented here force balance is maintained by magnetic shear. Magnetic pressure, plasma pressure and plasma density are constant. The method used to find the equilibrium is based on the analogy of the one-dimensional Vlasov-Maxwell equilibrium problem to the motion of a pseudoparticle in a two-dimensional conservative potential. The force-free solution can be generalized to a complete family of equilibria that describe the transition between the purely pressure-balanced Harris sheet to the force-free Harris sheet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael G Harrison
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, KY16 9SS, United Kingdom
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Pritchett PL. Collisionless magnetic reconnection in an asymmetric current sheet. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.1029/2007ja012930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 140] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- P. L. Pritchett
- Department of Physics and Astronomy; University of California; Los Angeles California USA
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Dorelli JC, Bhattacharjee A, Raeder J. Separator reconnection at Earth's dayside magnetopause under generic northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.1029/2006ja011877] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- John C. Dorelli
- EOS Space Science Center; University of New Hampshire; Durham New Hampshire USA
| | | | - Joachim Raeder
- EOS Space Science Center; University of New Hampshire; Durham New Hampshire USA
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