Electron-scale measurements of magnetic reconnection in space

J L Burch; R B Torbert; T D Phan; L-J Chen; T E Moore; R E Ergun; J P Eastwood; D J Gershman; P A Cassak; M R Argall; S Wang; M Hesse; C J Pollock; B L Giles; R Nakamura; B H Mauk; S A Fuselier; C T Russell; R J Strangeway; J F Drake; M A Shay; Yu V Khotyaintsev; P-A Lindqvist; G Marklund; F D Wilder; D T Young; K Torkar; J Goldstein; J C Dorelli; L A Avanov; M Oka; D N Baker; A N Jaynes; K A Goodrich; I J Cohen; D L Turner; J F Fennell; J B Blake; J Clemmons; M Goldman; D Newman; S M Petrinec; K J Trattner; B Lavraud; P H Reiff; W Baumjohann; W Magnes; M Steller; W Lewis; Y Saito; V Coffey; M Chandler

doi:10.1126/science.aaf2939

Electron-scale measurements of magnetic reconnection in space

Science. 2016 Jun 3;352(6290):aaf2939. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf2939. Epub 2016 May 12.

Authors

J L Burch¹, R B Torbert², T D Phan³, L-J Chen⁴, T E Moore⁵, R E Ergun⁶, J P Eastwood⁷, D J Gershman⁵, P A Cassak⁸, M R Argall⁹, S Wang⁴, M Hesse⁵, C J Pollock⁵, B L Giles⁵, R Nakamura¹⁰, B H Mauk¹¹, S A Fuselier¹², C T Russell¹³, R J Strangeway¹³, J F Drake⁴, M A Shay¹⁴, Yu V Khotyaintsev¹⁵, P-A Lindqvist¹⁶, G Marklund¹⁶, F D Wilder⁶, D T Young¹², K Torkar¹⁰, J Goldstein¹², J C Dorelli⁵, L A Avanov⁵, M Oka³, D N Baker⁶, A N Jaynes⁶, K A Goodrich⁶, I J Cohen¹¹, D L Turner¹⁷, J F Fennell¹⁷, J B Blake¹⁷, J Clemmons¹⁷, M Goldman¹⁸, D Newman¹⁸, S M Petrinec¹⁹, K J Trattner⁶, B Lavraud²⁰, P H Reiff²¹, W Baumjohann¹⁰, W Magnes¹⁰, M Steller¹⁰, W Lewis¹², Y Saito²², V Coffey²³, M Chandler²³

Affiliations

¹ Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA. jburch@swri.edu.
² Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA. University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
³ University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA.
⁴ University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
⁵ NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA.
⁶ University of Colorado LASP, Boulder, CO, USA.
⁷ Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, UK.
⁸ West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
⁹ University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA.
¹⁰ Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz, Austria.
¹¹ Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, USA.
¹² Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA.
¹³ University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁴ University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
¹⁵ Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden.
¹⁶ Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
¹⁷ Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA, USA.
¹⁸ University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.
¹⁹ Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
²⁰ Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Toulouse, France.
²¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
²² Institute for Space and Astronautical Sciences, Sagamihara, Japan.
²³ NASA, Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA.

PMID: 27174677
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2939

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process in plasmas whereby stored magnetic energy is converted into heat and kinetic energy of charged particles. Reconnection occurs in many astrophysical plasma environments and in laboratory plasmas. Using measurements with very high time resolution, NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has found direct evidence for electron demagnetization and acceleration at sites along the sunward boundary of Earth's magnetosphere where the interplanetary magnetic field reconnects with the terrestrial magnetic field. We have (i) observed the conversion of magnetic energy to particle energy; (ii) measured the electric field and current, which together cause the dissipation of magnetic energy; and (iii) identified the electron population that carries the current as a result of demagnetization and acceleration within the reconnection diffusion/dissipation region.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.