Electron density hole and quadruple structure of B y during collisionless magnetic reconnection

Abstract

In collisionless reconnection, the magnetic field near the separatrix is stronger than that around the X-line, so an electron-beam can be formed and flows toward the X-line, which leads to a decrease of the electron density near the separatrix. Having been accelerated around the X-line, the electrons flow out along the magnetic field lines in the inner side of the separatrix. A quadruple structure of the Hall magnetic field By is formed by such a current system. A 2D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation code is used in this paper to study the collisionless magnetic reconnection without an initial guide field. The current system described above is proved by the simulations. Furthermore, the position of the peak of the Hall magnetic field By is found to be between the separatrix and the center of the current sheet, which is verified by Cluster observations.