Number Of Current Sheets Research Articles

Lower‐Hybrid Wave‐Induced Plasma Mixing Related to Kelvin‐Helmholtz Vortices During Southward IMF

AbstractWe examine characteristics of the boundaries of 11 Kelvin‐Helmholtz vortex crossings observed by MMS on 23 September 2017 under southward IMF conditions. At both the leading and trailing edges, boundary regions of mixed plasma are observed together with lower‐hybrid wave activity. We found that thicker boundary regions feature a higher number of sub‐ion scale current sheets, of which only one shows clear reconnection signatures. Moreover, the lower‐hybrid waves along the vortex spine region are identified as an effective mechanism for plasma transport with an estimated diffusion coefficient of s. Comparisons with 3D simulations performed under the same conditions as the MMS event suggest that the extension of the boundary regions as well as the number of current sheets are related to different evolutionary stages of the vortices. Such observations can be explained by changes in the upstream magnetic field conditions.

Hybrid simulations of the decay of reconnected structures downstream of the bow shock

Observations by Magnetospheric Multiscale have demonstrated that magnetic reconnection occurs at Earth's bow shock, typically at thin current sheets arising from plasma instabilities and turbulence in the shock transition region. Observational surveys of both the shock transition and the magnetosheath downstream suggest that the number of current sheets in these regions may not be strongly dependent on the shock Mach number MA or the angle between the upstream magnetic field and shock normal (θBn). This result is somewhat surprising given that quasi-parallel and high Mach number shocks tend to have a more disordered and non-stationary structure. In order to investigate how shock reconnection manifests across different parameters, we perform a series of hybrid (fluid electron, kinetic ion) particle-in-cell simulations across a range of Mach numbers and orientations. Given that hybrid simulations cannot resolve electron-scale current sheets and reconnection, these simulations isolate an ion-scale mechanism for shock reconnection driven by an ion–ion beam instability in the foot. We find that this mechanism is strongly constrained to quasi-parallel shocks across all simulated Mach numbers. By quantifying reconnection using the area occupied by plasma on closed magnetic field lines, we find the number of reconnecting structures and closed field area increase with MA and decrease with θBn in the upstream and ramp regions. Downstream of the shock, however, we find a similar result to observational surveys: within the subset of quasi-parallel shocks, the decay rate of the closed field area (and hence thin current sheets) is not strongly dependent on upstream shock parameters.

Effect of Current Sheets on the Solar Wind Magnetic Field Power Spectrum from the Ulysses Observation: From Kraichnan to Kolmogorov Scaling

The MHD turbulence theory developed by Iroshnikov and Kraichnan predicts a k(-1.5) power spectrum. Solar wind observations, however, often show a k(-5/3) Kolmogorov scaling. Based on 3 years worth of Ulysses magnetic field data where over 28,000 current sheets are identified, we propose that the current sheet is the cause of the Kolmogorov scaling. We show that for 5 longest current-sheet-free periods the magnetic field power spectra are all described by the Iroshnikov-Kraichnan scaling. In comparison, for 5 periods that have the most number of current sheets, the power spectra all exhibit Kolmogorov scaling. The implication of our results is discussed.

8.6. Magnetic reconnection as the origin of superhot plasmas in the Galactic center

Recent X-ray astronomy satellite (e.g., Ginga, ASCA) has revealed that the center of our Galaxy is filled with a large amount of very hot plasmas (a few − 10 keV) on a scale of 100 pc, which are referred to as superhot plasmas. These plasmas are similar to the Galactic Ridge X-ray Emission (GRXE; cf Tanuma et al. 1997), but with larger gas pressure, and their formation mechanism has been a big puzzle. Here we propose a new model, magnetic reconnection model (Fig. 1), to explain the heating as well as the confinement of the Galactic center superhot plasmas, by performing MHD numerical simulations of magnetic reconnection in the situation suitable for the Galactic center. In our model, the magnetic field is amplified by the rotation of the Galactic gas disk (Fig. 2), and inflate from the disk to outside by the Parker instability. The inflating magnetic loop collides with ambient field lines, thus inducing the magnetic reconnection (the same process applied to the solar corona is shown in Yokoyama and Shibata 1995). In this model, energy release per single reconnection event is ΔE ≈ emVrec ≈ 2 × 1051 erg where em = P/β is the energy density of toroidal magnetic field, Vrec = λ2δ is the volume of the event, λ ≈ 60pc is the most unstable wavelength of the Parker instability, and δ ≈ 3pc is the thickness of the Galactic disk. The occurrence rate of this event is f ≈ N/Δτdep ≈ (3 × 104 yr)−1 where N = Vdisk/Vrec is the number of current sheets in the disk, Vdisk is the volume of the disk, and Δτdep is the time scale of energy deposit which is comparable with the time scale of the Galactic rotation. Then, the heating rate is h = fΔE = 2 × 1039 erg s−1 = 100L2–10keV.

MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN MULTIPLE HELIOSPHERIC CURRENT SHEETS

Satellite observations of the heliospheric current sheet indicate that the internal structure of sector boundaries is a very complex structure with many directional discontinuities in the magnetic field. This implies that the heliospheric current sheet is not a single surface but a constantly changing layer with a varying number of current sheets. In this paper, we investigate magnetic reconnection caused by the resistive tearing mode instability in non-periodic multiple current sheets by using two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation. The results show that it is complex unsteady magnetic reconnection. Accompanying the nonlinear development of the tearing mode, the width of each magnetic island in multiple current sheets increases with time, and this leads to new magnetic reconnection. At the same time, the width of each current sheet increases, and the current intensity decreases gradually. Finally, the reverse current disappears, and a big magnetic island is formed in the central region. This process is faster when the separation between the current sheets is smaller. We suggest that the occurrence of multiple directional discontinuities observed at sector boundary crossings in the heliosphere may be associated with the magnetic islands and plasmoids caused by magnetic reconnection in multiple current sheets.