Abstract
Two processes are discussed which violate the frozen-in condition in a highly conducting plasma, reconnection and the auroral acceleration process. The first applies to situations in which . It plays an important role in the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetic field and controls energy input into as well as energetic particle release from the magnetosphere. Detailed in situ studies of the process on the dayside magnetopause reveal its transient and small-scale nature. The auroral acceleration process occurs in the low magnetosphere (β « 1) and accompanies sudden releases of magnetic shear stresses which exist in large-scale magnetospheric-ionospheric current circuits. The process is interpreted as a kind of breaking. The movements of the magnetospheric plasma which lead to a relief of the magnetic tensions occur in thin sheets and are decoupled along the magnetic field lines by parallel electric potential drops. It is this voltage that accelerates the primary auroral particles. The visible arcs are then traces of the magnetic breaking process at several 1000 km altitude.
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