Abstract
The understanding of the fundamental properties of turbulence in collisionless plasmas, such as the solar wind, is a frontier problem in plasma physics. In particular, the occurrence of magnetic reconnection in turbulent plasmas and its interplay with a fully-developed turbulent state is still a matter of great debate. Here we investigate the properties of small-scale electromagnetic fluctuations and the role of fast magnetic reconnection in the development of a quasi-steady turbulent state by means of 2D-3V high-resolution Vlasov–Maxwell simulations. At the largest scales turbulence is fed by external random forcing. We show that large-scale turbulent motions establish a spectrum at and, at the same time, feed the formation of current sheets where magnetic reconnection occurs. As a result coherent magnetic structures are generated which, together with the rise of the associated small-scale non-ideal electric field, mediate the transition between the inertial and the subproton-scale spectrum. A mechanism that boosts the magnetic reconnection process is identified, making the generation of coherent structures rapid enough to be competitive with wave mode interactions and leading to the formation of a fully-developed turbulent spectrum across the so-called ion break.
Highlights
Space plasmas are probably the best laboratory for the study of collisionless plasma turbulence, as the Earth’s environment has become accessible to increasingly accurate direct measurements [1]
The forcing acts at the largest scale lengths allowed by the simulation box, much larger than the ion kinetic scale, and allows the system to eventually reach a fully-developed quasi-steady turbulent state
We have focused on the role and interplay of small-scale electromagnetic fluctuations and magnetic reconnection for the development of such turbulent state at b = 1
Summary
Any further distribution of this work must maintain reconnection in turbulent plasmas and its interplay with a fully-developed turbulent state is still a attribution to the matter of great debate. We investigate the properties of small-scale electromagnetic fluctuations author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and the role of fast magnetic reconnection in the development of a quasi-steady turbulent state by and DOI. We show that large-scale turbulent motions establish a -5 3 spectrum at k^di < 1 and, at the same time, feed the formation of current sheets where magnetic reconnection occurs. A mechanism that boosts the magnetic reconnection process is identified, making the generation of coherent structures rapid enough to be competitive with wave mode interactions and leading to the formation of a fully-developed turbulent spectrum across the so-called ion break
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