Spatial Distribution of Energetic Electrons during Magnetic Reconnection

Electron acceleration by the inductive electric field near the X point in magnetic reconnection is an important generation mechanism for energetic electrons. Particle simulations have revealed that most of energetic electrons reside in the magnetic field line pileup region, and a depletion of energetic electrons can be found near the centre of the diffusion region [Phys. Plasmas, 13 (2006) 012309]. We report direct measurement of energetic electron in and around the ion diffusion region in near-Earth tail by the cluster, and our observations confirm the above predictions: a depletion of the high-energy electron fluxes is detected near the centre of the diffusion region. At the same time, the plasma temperature has a similar profile in the diffusion region. .     

Out-of-plane bipolar and quadrupolar magnetic fields generated by shear flows in two-dimensional resistive reconnection

Shear flows perpendicular to the anti-parallel reconnecting magnetic field are often observed in magnetosphere and interplanetary plasmas, and in laboratory plasmas toroidal differential rotations can also be generated in magnetic confinement devices. Our study finds that such shear flows can generate bipolar or quadrupolar out-of-plane magnetic field perturbations in a two-dimensional resistive MHD reconnection without the Hall effects. The quadrupolar structure has otherwise been thought a typical Hall MHD reconnection feature caused by the in-plane electron convection. The results will challenge the conventional understanding and satellite observations of the signature of reconnection evidences in space plasmas.     

Cluster Observation of Eelectrostatic Solitary Waves around Magnetic Null Point in Thin Current Sheet

Electrostatic solitary waves （ESWs） are observed in the vicinity of the magnetic null of the widely studied magnetic reconnection taking place at the near-earth tail when current sheet becomes dramatic thinning during substorm time on 1 October 2001. We use the Imada method for the 2-D reconnection model and study the characteristics of ESWs near the X-line region and the magnetic null points. The result shows that the amplitude of the observed ESWs in the vicinity of X-line region ranges from 0.1mV/m to 5mV/m, and the amplitude is larger near the magnetic null points. The generation mechanism and the role of ESWs associated with magnetic reconnection are also discussed.     

Super-Alfvénic propagation of substorm reconnection signatures and Poynting flux

The propagation of reconnection signatures and their associated energy are examined using kinetic particle-in-cell simulations and Cluster satellite observations. It is found that the quadrupolar out-of-plane magnetic field near the separatrices is associated with a kinetic Alfvén wave. For magnetotail parameters, the parallel propagation of this wave is super-Alfvénic (V(∥) ～ 1500-5500 km/s) and generates substantial Poynting flux (S ～ 10(-5)-10(-4) W/m(2)) consistent with Cluster observations of magnetic reconnection. This Poynting flux substantially exceeds that due to frozen-in ion bulk outflows and is sufficient to generate white light aurora in Earth's ionosphere.     

Observation and analysis of whistler-mode wave and electrostatic solitary waves within density depletion near magnetic reconnection X-line

The PWI/WFC data onboard Geotail during one burst time interval when Geotail is skimming a magnetic reconnection diffusion region in the near-Earth magnetotail is carefully analyzed.Both the whistler-mode wave and the electrostatic solitary wave are found within the region with density depletion on the boundary layer near the magnetic reconnection X-line.The whistler-mode wave is electromagnetic whistler wave propagating quasi-parallel to the ambient field with a small angle between the wave vector and the ambient magnetic field.The whistler-mode wave associated with ESWs suggests that enhanced electromagnetic whistler-mode fluctuations can also be generated after the decay of the ESWs,which is different from the 2-D PIC simulation results.     

Z箍缩等离子体磁重联现象

分析了磁重联对晕等离子体加速和能量平衡过程的影响。分析表明晕等离子体向轴心的加速过程分为两个阶段:第一阶段晕等离子体在磁压或热压(依赖于丝数)作用下向轴心运动;第二阶段晕等离子体由于磁重联过程被加速到阿尔芬速度,并到达轴心形成先驱等离子体。估算表明重联层的厚度与离子的惯性长度具有相同的数量级,电流片内电子运动和离子的运动是解耦合的。在内爆滞止阶段电荷分离产生强的径向电场,这个电场将磁能转化为等离子体轴向(z方向)动能,内爆动能和轴向动能共同转化为X射线辐射能,以此解释了X射线能量大于内爆动能这一观测结果。分析了磁重联电磁脉冲的性质,对于1 MA驱动条件,电磁脉冲的总能量可达kJ量级。     

激光驱动磁重联过程中的喷流演化和电子能谱测量

利用神光Ⅱ激光器和日本大阪大学Gekko激光器构建了激光驱动等离子体磁重联过程. 在垂直于磁重联平面方向发现了高速喷流, 从不同观测方向实验证实了该喷流的存在并测量了喷流的流体力学演化过程, 对其中的电子能谱进行了诊断分析.     

Local measurement of nonclassical ion heating during magnetic reconnection

Local ion temperature and flows are measured directly in the well-characterized reconnection layer of a laboratory plasma. The measurements indicate strongly that ions are heated due to reconnection and that more than half of the reconnected field energy is converted to ion thermal energy. Neither classical viscous damping of the observed sub-Alfvenic ion flows nor classical energy exchange with electrons is sufficient to account for the ion heating, suggesting the importance of nonclassical dissipation mechanisms in the reconnection layer.     

Observational Aspects of Magnetic Reconnection at the Earth’s Magnetosphere

Magnetic field reconnection has shown to be the dominant process in the solar wind-Earth’s magnetosphere interaction. It enables mass, momentum, and energy exchange between different plasma regimes, and it is regarded as an efficient plasma acceleration and heating mechanism. Reconnection has been observed to occur in laboratory plasmas, at planetary magnetospheres in our Solar System, and the Sun. In this work, we focus on analyzing the characteristics of magnetic reconnection at the Earth’s magnetosphere according to spaceborne observations in the vicinity of our planet. Firstly, the locations where magnetic field reconnection are expected to occur within the vast magnetospheric region are addressed, and is shown how they are influenced by changes in the interplanetary magnetic field direction. The main magnetic field and plasma signatures of magnetic reconnection are discussed from both theoretical and observational points of view. Spacecraft observations of ion inertial length scale reconnection are also presented.     

KT-5B托卡马克等离子体中剪切Alfven波的激发特性

本文报道最近在KT-5B托卡马克装置上进行Alfven波激发特性研究的实验结果。结果表明:Alfven波存在比较宽的激发区域,耦合强度随等离子体电流、纵向磁场的上升而增强。观测到温度阈值效应,并初步得到表面静电波的实验证据。 关键词：     

Identification of Radial Distance of Plasma Dispersionless Injection Boundary from the Injection Source

Measurements of energetic particles obtained by the two geosynchronous satellites （1991-080 and LANL-97A） are performed to investigate the plasma injection boundary and source region during the magnetospheric substorms. The measurement method is developed to allow remote sensing of the plasma injection time and the radial distance of injection boundaries by using measured energy dispersion and modelling particle drifts within the Volland-Stern electric field and the dipole magnetic field model. The radial distance of the injection boundary deduced from a dispersion event observed by the LANL-97A satellite on 14 June 1998 is 7.1RE, and the injection time agrees well with the substorm onset time identified by the Polar Ultraviolet Imager. The method has been applied to an event happened at 22.9 UT on 11 March 1998, when both the satellites （1991-080 and LANL-97A） observed the dispersionless character. The results indicate that the radial distance of injection source locates at 8.1RE at magnetotail, and particles move earthward from magnetotail into inner magnetosphere at 22.5 UT.     

Confinement of infrared radiation to nanometer scales through metallic slit arrays

One-dimensional metallic slit array has been intensively studied in the spectral range from ultraviolet to near-infrared due to its enhanced transmission for transverse magnetic waves. However, the transmission enhancement is sensitive to the wavelength of incident radiation because of resonance characteristics. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate that confining mid-infrared radiation to nanometer scales with a large transmission enhancement can be achieved from an aluminum slit array in a wavelength-insensitive manner, for potential applications in localized heating and nanothermal patterning. The Poynting vector and energy density calculated from the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) are used to explain the strong localization of electromagnetic energy in the near-field regime. Furthermore, the localization of energy is also studied when a dielectric substrate is used to support the slit array in practical applications.     

Transient magnetic reconnection and unstable shear layers

We study three-dimensional magnetic reconnection caused by the Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) instability and differential rotation in subsonic and sub-Alfvenic flows. The flows, which are modeled by the resistive magnetohydrodynamic equations with constant resistivity, are stable in the direction of the magnetic field but unstable perpendicular to the magnetic field. Localized transient reconnection is observed on the KH time scale, and kinetic energy increases with decreasing resistivity. As in flux-transfer events in the Earth's magnetopause boundary layer, bipolar structures in the normal flux and bidirectional jetting away from reconnection zones are observed.     

Dynamic Processes of Cross-Tail Current in the Near-Earth Magnetotail

Current dynamic processes in realistic magnetotail geometry simulations under various driven conditions and Hall effects. are studied by Hall magnetohydrodynamic （MHD） Associated with the external driving force, a thin current sheet with a broad extent is built up in the near-Earth magnetotail. The time evolution for the formation of the current sheet comprises two phases： slow growth and a fast impulsive phase before the near-Earth disruption of the current sheet resulting from the fast magnetic reconnection. The simulation results indicate that as the external driving force increases, the site and the tailward speed of the near-Earth current disruption region are closer to the Earth and faster, respectively. Whether the near-Earth disruption of the current sheet takes place or not is mainly controlled by Hall effects. It is found that there is no sudden disruption of the current sheet in the near-Earth region if the ion inertial length is below di= 0.04.     

Laboratory experiment on kinetic Alfven waves in connection withphenomena in space plasmas

A laboratory experiment has been performed in connection with interesting phenomena in space plasmas such as geomagnetic pulsations in the magnetosphere or particle acceleration by the kinetic Alfven wave in field-aligned currents of the auroral circuit. Fast waves or MHD surface waves in a cylindrical finite-β plasma have been observed to be mode converted into kinetic Alfven waves at the Alfven resonance layer. The surface waves were excited using small loop antennas located at the edge of the inhomogeneous plasma to simulate those on the magnetosphere or plasmapause     

Properties of Field Aligned Current in Plasma Sheet Boundary Layers in Magnetotail: Cluster Observation

Field aligned current （FAC） distribution in the plasma sheet boundary layers （PSBLs） in the magnetotail is studied statistically by analysing magnetic field data from the Cluster 4-point measurements. The results show that the FAC distribution on the dusk side is not the same as that on the dawn side in the magnetotail. On the each side earthward and tailward, FA C occurrences are different; occurrence and average current density of FA Cs in the northern hemisphere are different from those in the southern hemisphere. This implies that the FACs have dusk-dawn side asymmetry, polarity asymmetry and inter hemisphere difference in the magnetotail. The present results give a good observation evidence for study on the FAC mechanism.     

Spatially resolved measurements of ion heating during impulsive reconnection in the Madison Symmetric Torus

The impurity ion temperature evolution has been measured during three types of impulsive reconnection events in the Madison Symmetric Torus reversed field pinch. During an edge reconnection event, the drop in stored magnetic energy is small and ion heating is observed to be limited to the outer half of the plasma. Conversely, during a global reconnection event the drop in stored magnetic energy is large, and significant heating is observed at all radii. For both kinds of events, the drop in magnetic energy is sufficient to explain the increase in ion thermal energy. However, not all types of reconnection lead to ion heating. During a core reconnection event, both the stored magnetic energy and impurity ion temperature remain constant. The results suggest that a drop in magnetic energy is required for ions to be heated during reconnection, and that when this occurs heating is localized near the reconnection layer.     

Ion pickup by intrinsic low-frequency Alfven waves with a spectrum

<正>Ion pickup by a monochromatic low-frequency Alfven wave,which propagates along the background magnetic field,has recently been investigated in a low beta plasma(Lu and Li 2007 Phys.Plasmas 14 042303).In this paper, the monochromatic Alfven wave is generalized to a spectrum of Alfven waves with random phase.It finds that the process of ion pickup can be divided into two stages.First,ions are picked up in the transverse direction,and then phase difference(randomization) between ions due to their different parallel thermal motions leads to heating of the ions.The heating is dominant in the direction perpendicular to the background magnetic field.The temperatures of the ions at the asymptotic stage do not depend on individual waves in the spectrum,but are determined by the total amplitude of the waves.The effect of the initial ion bulk flow in the parallel direction on the heating is also considered in this paper.     

Magnetic field generation from Alfven waves propagating along helical lines of force

A static induced magnetization of Alfven waves (IMAW) due to the inverse Faraday effect is defined and studied. The Alfven waves are assumed to propagate along helical lines of force of a force-free ambient magnetic field. This induced magnetization follows from the magnetic moment of ordered gyrating motion of charges in the presence of electromagnetic waves and an ambient field. The helicity of the force-free field is found to decrease due to this IMAW. This effect is expected to be important in the physics of magnetization of the sun and pulsars, and also in laboratory devices for the generation of plasmas and their heating.