Onset of collisionless magnetic reconnection in two-dimensional current sheets and formation of dipolarization fronts

Abstract

[1] The onset of reconnection in 2-D current sheet equilibria that include an X line separating tail-like regions with magnetized electrons is simulated with a full-particle code. The onset is driven by a finite convection electric field applied outside the current sheet. In the case of tearing stable tails with no accumulated magnetic flux, the convection electric field penetrates the sheet near the X line. In contrast, in multiscale equilibria where the X line is framed by local areas of enhanced flux, the electric field avoids the X line, directly penetrates the areas of increased flux, and ejects them downstream. The ejecta form dipolarization fronts (DFs), sharp magnetic pileups with a thickness on the order of the ion inertial length, much smaller than the mesoscales of the initial flux increase regions. The DFs move with the reconnection outflows in the direction opposite the magnetic field stretching, while behind them new X lines, distinct from the original, form. Simulations with a reduced driving field suggest that DF formation shares properties with the ion tearing instability, which is consistent with its potential destabilization in multiscale equilibria. Weak driving of equilibria with tearing stable tails first forms flux accumulation regions, which then rapidly transform into DFs, making 2-D equilibria inherently metastable. The results are compared with observations of DFs, the statistical visualization of Earth's magnetotail during substorm onset, and the bubble-blob pair formation model.