Magnetic Reconnection Process Research Articles

Cassini plasma observations of Saturn's magnetospheric cusp

AbstractThe magnetospheric cusp is a funnel‐shaped region where shocked solar wind plasma is able to enter the high‐latitude magnetosphere via the process of magnetic reconnection. The plasma observations include various cusp signatures such as ion energy dispersions and diamagnetic effects. We present an overview analysis of cusp plasma observations at the Saturnian magnetosphere from the Cassini spacecraft era. A comparison of the observations is made as well as classification into groups due to varying characteristics. The locations of the reconnection site are calculated and shown to vary along the subsolar magnetopause. We show the first in situ evidence for lobe reconnection that occurred at nearly the same time as dayside reconnection for one of the cusp crossings. Evidence for “bursty” and more “continuous” reconnection signatures is observed at different cusp events. The events are compared to solar wind propagation models, and it is shown that magnetic reconnection and plasma injection into the cusp can occur for a variety of upstream conditions. These are important results because they show that Saturn's magnetospheric interaction with the solar wind and the resulting cusp signatures are dynamic and that plasma injection in the cusp occurs due to a variety of solar wind conditions. Furthermore, reconnection can proceed at a variety of locations along the magnetopause.

GLOBAL ENERGETICS OF SOLAR FLARES. III. NONTHERMAL ENERGIES

ABSTRACT This study entails the third part of a global flare energetics project, in which Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) data of 191 M and X-class flare events from the first 3.5 years of the Solar Dynamics Observatory mission are analyzed. We fit a thermal and a nonthermal component to RHESSI spectra, yielding the temperature of the differential emission measure (DEM) tail, the nonthermal power-law slope and flux, and the thermal/nonthermal cross-over energy e co. From these parameters, we calculate the total nonthermal energy E nt in electrons with two different methods: (1) using the observed cross-over energy e co as low-energy cutoff, and (2) using the low-energy cutoff e wt predicted by the warm thick-target bremsstrahlung model of Kontar et al. Based on a mean temperature of T e = 8.6 MK in active regions, we find low-energy cutoff energies of for the warm-target model, which is significantly lower than the cross-over energies . Comparing with the statistics of magnetically dissipated energies E mag and thermal energies E th from the two previous studies, we find the following mean (logarithmic) energy ratios with the warm-target model: , , and . The total dissipated magnetic energy exceeds the thermal energy in 95% and the nonthermal energy in 71% of the flare events, which confirms that magnetic reconnection processes are sufficient to explain flare energies. The nonthermal energy exceeds the thermal energy in 85% of the events, which largely confirms the warm thick-target model.

Proton acceleration in three-dimensional non-null magnetic reconnection

In a three-dimensional non-null magnetic reconnection, the process of magnetic reconnection takes place in the absence of a null point where the magnetic field vanishes. By randomly injecting a population of 10 000 protons, the trajectory and energy distribution of accelerated protons are investigated in the presence of magnetic and electric fields of a particular model of non-null magnetic reconnection with the typical parameters for the solar corona. The results show that protons are accelerated along the magnetic field lines away from the non-null point only at azimuthal angles where the magnitude of the electric field is strongest and therefore particles obtain kinetic energies of the order of thousands of MeV and even higher. Moreover, the energy distribution of the population depends strongly on the amplitude of the electric and magnetic fields. Comparison shows that a non-null magnetic reconnection is more efficient in accelerating protons to very high GeV energies than a null-point reconnection.

A SOLAR FLARE DISTURBING A LIGHT WALL ABOVE A SUNSPOT LIGHT BRIDGE

ABSTRACT With the high-resolution data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, we detect a light wall above a sunspot light bridge in the NOAA active region (AR) 12403. In the 1330 Å slit-jaw images, the light wall is brighter than the ambient areas while the wall top and base are much brighter than the wall body, and it keeps oscillating above the light bridge. A C8.0 flare caused by a filament activation occurred in this AR with the peak at 02:52 UT on 2015 August 28, and the flare’s one ribbon overlapped the light bridge, which was the observational base of the light wall. Consequently, the oscillation of the light wall was evidently disturbed. The mean projective oscillation amplitude of the light wall increased from 0.5 to 1.6 Mm before the flare and decreased to 0.6 Mm after the flare. We suggest that the light wall shares a group of magnetic field lines with the flare loops, which undergo a magnetic reconnection process, and they constitute a coupled system. When the magnetic field lines are pushed upward at the pre-flare stage, the light wall turns to the vertical direction, resulting in the increase of the light wall’s projective oscillation amplitude. After the magnetic reconnection takes place, a group of new field lines with smaller scales are formed underneath the reconnection site, and the light wall inclines. Thus, the projective amplitude notably decrease at the post-flare stage.

On the Collisionless Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection Rate.

To understand the evolution of many space and astrophysical plasmas, it is imperative to know how fast magnetic reconnection processes the magnetic flux. Researchers found that reconnection in both symmetric and asymmetric geometries exhibits a normalized reconnection rate of order 0.1. In this work, we show that this nearly universal value in asymmetric geometry is also the maximal rate allowed in the magnetohydrodynamic scale. This result has applications to the transport process at plasma boundary layers like Earth's magnetopause.

CME impact on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

We present Rosetta observations from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during the impact of a coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME impacted on 5-6 Oct 2015, when Rosetta was about 800 km from the comet nucleus, \textcolor{black}{and 1.4 AU from the Sun}. Upon impact, the plasma environment is compressed to the level that solar wind ions, not seen a few days earlier when at 1500 km, now reach Rosetta. In response to the compression, the flux of suprathermal electrons increases by a factor of 5-10 and the background magnetic field strength increases by a factor of $\sim$2.5. The plasma density increases by a factor of 10 and reaches 600 cm$^{-3}$, due to increased particle impact ionisation, charge exchange and the adiabatic compression of the plasma environment. We also observe unprecedentedly large magnetic field spikes at 800 km, reaching above 200 nT, which are interpreted as magnetic flux ropes. We suggest that these could possibly be formed by magnetic reconnection processes in the coma as the magnetic field across the CME changes polarity, or as a consequence of strong shears causing Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in the plasma flow. Due to the \textcolor{black}{limited orbit of Rosetta}, we are not able to observe if a tail disconnection occurs during the CME impact, which could be expected based on previous remote observations of other CME-comet interactions.

RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS PRODUCED BY RECONNECTING ELECTRIC FIELDS IN A LASER-DRIVEN BENCH-TOP SOLAR FLARE

ABSTRACT Laboratory experiments have been carried out to model the magnetic reconnection process in a solar flare with powerful lasers. Relativistic electrons with energy up to megaelectronvolts are detected along the magnetic separatrices bounding the reconnection outflow, which exhibit a kappa-like distribution with an effective temperature of ∼109 K. The acceleration of non-thermal electrons is found to be more efficient in the case with a guide magnetic field (a component of a magnetic field along the reconnection-induced electric field) than in the case without a guide field. Hardening of the spectrum at energies ≥500 keV is observed in both cases, which remarkably resembles the hardening of hard X-ray and γ-ray spectra observed in many solar flares. This supports a recent proposal that the hardening in the hard X-ray and γ-ray emissions of solar flares is due to a hardening of the source-electron spectrum. We also performed numerical simulations that help examine behaviors of electrons in the reconnection process with the electromagnetic field configurations occurring in the experiments. The trajectories of non-thermal electrons observed in the experiments were well duplicated in the simulations. Our numerical simulations generally reproduce the electron energy spectrum as well, except for the hardening of the electron spectrum. This suggests that other mechanisms such as shock or turbulence may play an important role in the production of the observed energetic electrons.

Evolution of clustered magnetic nulls in a turbulent-like reconnection region in the magnetotail

Magnetic null points and flux ropes play important roles in the three-dimensional process of magnetic reconnection. In this study, a cluster of null points are reconstructed in the reconnection region in the magnetotail by applying a fitting-reconstruction method to measurements from the Cluster mission. The number of reconstructed null points varies rapidly, presenting a turbulent-like evolution of the magnetic structure. The electron density and the flux of the accelerated electrons were enhanced in this turbulent-like region. During this unstable reconnection process, a B–As–B null structure was formed, showing flux rope features and resembling a secondary island in the observation.

SPATIAL GROWTH OF CURRENT-DRIVEN INSTABILITY IN RELATIVISTIC ROTATING JETS AND THE SEARCH FOR MAGNETIC RECONNECTION

ABSTRACT Using the three-dimensional relativistic magnetohydrodynamic code RAISHIN, we investigated the influence of the radial density profile on the spatial development of the current-driven kink instability along magnetized rotating, relativistic jets. For the purposes of our study, we used a nonperiodic computational box, the jet flow is initially established across the computational grid, and a precessional perturbation at the inlet triggers the growth of the kink instability. We studied light and heavy jets with respect to the environment depending on the density profile. Different angular velocity amplitudes have been also tested. The results show the propagation of a helically kinked structure along the jet and a relatively stable configuration for the lighter jets. The jets appear to be collimated by the magnetic field, and the flow is accelerated owing to conversion of electromagnetic into kinetic energy. We also identify regions of high current density in filamentary current sheets, indicative of magnetic reconnection, which are associated with the kink-unstable regions and correlated with the decrease of the sigma parameter of the flow. We discuss the implications of our findings for Poynting-flux-dominated jets in connection with magnetic reconnection processes. We find that fast magnetic reconnection may be driven by the kink-instability turbulence and govern the transformation of magnetic into kinetic energy, thus providing an efficient way to power and accelerate particles in active galactic nucleus and gamma-ray-burst relativistic jets.

MHD study of three-dimensional spontaneous fast magnetic reconnection for cross-tail plasma inflows in magnetotail

The 3D instability of spontaneous fast magnetic reconnection process is studied with magnetohydrodynamic simulations, where 2D model of the spontaneous fast magnetic reconnection process is destabilized in three dimensions. In this 3D instability, the spontaneous fast magnetic reconnection process is intermittently and randomly caused in 3D. In this paper, as a typical event study, a single 3D fast magnetic reconnection process often observed in the 3D instability is studied in detail. As a remarkable feature, it is reported that, when the 3D fast magnetic reconnection process starts, plasma inflows along the magnetic neutral line are observed, which are driven by plasma static pressure gradient along the neutral line. The plasma inflow speed reaches about 15 in the upstream field region. The unmagnetized inflow tends to prevent the 3D reconnection process; nevertheless, the 3D reconnection process is intermittently maintained. Such high-speed plasma inflows along the neutral line may be observed as dawn–dusk flows in space satellite observations of magnetotail’s bursty bulk flows.

Magneto-thermal reconnection of significance to space and astrophysics

Magnetic reconnection processes that can be excited in collisionless plasma regimes are of interest to space and astrophysics to the extent that the layers in which reconnection takes place are not rendered unrealistically small by their unfavorable dependence on relevant macroscopic distances. The equations describing new modes producing magnetic reconnection over relatively small but significant distances, unlike tearing types of mode, even when dealing with large macroscopic scale lengths, are given. The considered modes are associated with a finite electron temperature gradient and have a phase velocity in the direction of the electron diamagnetic velocity that can reverse to the opposite direction as relevant parameters are varied over a relatively wide range. The electron temperature perturbation has a primary role in the relevant theory. In particular, when referring to regimes in which the longitudinal (to the magnetic field) electron thermal conductivity is relatively large, the electron temperature perturbation becomes singular if the ratio of the transverse to the longitudinal electron thermal conductivity becomes negligible.

Hyperbolic method for magnetic reconnection process in steady state magnetohydrodynamics

Hyperbolic method for magnetic reconnection process in steady state magnetohydrodynamics

Inside the Black Box: Magnetic Reconnection and the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

AbstractThe motivation for the recently launched Magnetospheric Multiscale mission is learning about the process of magnetic reconnection, especially the physics of what is called the diffusion region. The diffusion region is often treated as a black box but is the home of very important physics, which is of great significance to understanding space weather. This article is a brief review of what is known—and not known—about the diffusion region in magnetic reconnection, written for the broad space weather community and its stakeholders (with an appendix for readers interested in more technical matters). The focus is on the physics of magnetic reconnection and the diffusion region, why it has been challenging to study, how MMS will contribute, and how the community will benefit from its measurements.

A recent change in the optical and γ-ray polarization of the Crab nebula and pulsar

We report on observations of the polarization of optical and {\gamma}-ray photons from the Crab nebula and pulsar system using the Galway Astronomical Stokes Polarimeter (GASP), the Hubble Space Telescope/Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS) and the International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory satellite (Integral). These, when combined with other optical polarization observations, suggest that the polarized optical emission and {\gamma}-ray polarization changes in a similar manner. A change in the optical polarization angle has been observed by this work, from 109.5 \pm 0.7\deg in 2005 to 85.3 \pm 1.4 \deg in 2012. On the other hand, the {\gamma}-ray polarization angle changed from 115 \pm 11 \deg in 2003-2007 to 80 \pm 12 \deg in 2012-2014. Strong flaring activities have been detected in the Crab nebula over the past few years by the high energy {\gamma}-ray missions Agile and Fermi, and magnetic reconnection processes have been suggested to explain these observations. The change in the polarized optical and {\gamma}-ray emission of the Crab nebula/pulsar as observed, for the first time, by GASP and Integral may indicate that reconnection is possibly at work in the Crab nebula. We also report, for the first time, a non-zero measure of the optical circular polarization from the Crab pulsar+knot system.

NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS ON THE DETAILED ENERGY CONVERSION AND SPECTRUM STUDIES IN A CORONA CURRENT SHEET

In this paper, we study the energy conversion and spectra in a corona current sheet by 2.5-dimensional MHD numerical simulations. Numerical results show that many Petschek-like fine structures with slow-mode shocks mediated by plasmoid instabilities develop during the magnetic reconnection process. The termination shocks can also be formed above the primary magnetic island and at the head of secondary islands. These shocks play important roles in generating thermal energy in a corona current sheet. For a numerical simulation with initial conditions close to the solar corona environment, the ratio of the generated thermal energy to the total dissipated magnetic energy is around $1/5$ before secondary islands appear. After secondary islands appear, the generated thermal energy starts to increase sharply and this ratio can reach a value about $3/5$. In an environment with a relatively lower plasma density and plasma $\beta$, the plasma can be heated to a much higher temperature. After secondary islands appear, the one dimensional energy spectra along the current sheet do not behave as a simple power law and the spectrum index increases with the wave number. The average spectrum index for the magnetic energy spectrum along the current sheet is about $1.8$. The two dimensional spectra intuitively show that part of the high energy is cascaded to large $kx$ and $ky$ space after secondary islands appear. The plasmoid distribution function calculated from numerical simulations behaves as a power law closer to $f(\psi) \sim \psi^{-1}$ in the intermediate $\psi$ regime. By using $\eta_{eff} = v_{inflow}\cdot L$, the effective magnetic diffusivity is estimated about $10^{11}\sim10^{12}$~m$^2$\,s$^{-1}$.

MESSENGER observations of solar energetic electrons within Mercury's magnetosphere

AbstractDuring solar energetic particle (SEP) events, the inner heliosphere is bathed in MeV electrons. Through magnetic reconnection, these relativistic electrons can enter the magnetosphere of Mercury, nearly instantaneously filling the regions of open field lines with precipitating particles. With energies sufficient to penetrate solid aluminum shielding more than 1 mm thick, these electrons were observable by a number of sensors on the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. Because of its thin shielding, frequent sampling, and continuous temporal coverage, the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer provided by far the most sensitive measurements of MeV electrons of all MESSENGER sensors. Sharp changes in energetic electron flux coincided with topological boundaries in the magnetosphere, including the magnetopause, polar cap, and central plasma sheet. Precipitating electrons with fluxes equal to ~40% of their corresponding upstream levels were measured over the entire polar cap, demonstrating that electron space weathering of Mercury's surface is not limited to the cusp region. We use these distinct precipitation signatures acquired over 33 orbits during 11 SEP events to map the full extent of Mercury's northern polar cap. We confirm a highly asymmetric polar cap, for which the dayside and nightside boundary latitudes range over ~50–70°N and ~30–60°N, respectively. These latitudinal ranges are consistent with average models of Mercury's magnetic field but exhibit a large variability indicative of active dayside and nightside magnetic reconnection processes. Finally, we observed enhanced electron fluxes within the central plasma sheet. Although these particles cannot form a stable ring current around the planet, their motion results in an apparent trapped electron population at low latitudes in the magnetotail.

Self-organized criticality in a two-dimensional cellular automaton model of a magnetic flux tube with background flow

We investigate the transition to Self Organized Criticality in a two-dimensional model of a flux tube with a background flow. The magnetic induction equation, represented by a partial differential equation with a stochastic source term, is discretized and implemented on a two dimensional cellular automaton. The energy released by the automaton during one relaxation event is the magnetic energy. As a result of the simulations we obtain the time evolution of the energy release, of the system control parameter, of the event lifetime distribution and of the event size distribution, respectively, and we establish that a Self Organized Critical state is indeed reached by the system. Moreover, energetic initial impulses in the magnetohydrodynamic flow can lead to one dimensional signatures in the magnetic two dimensional system, once the Self Organized Critical regime is established. The applications of the model for the study of Gamma Ray Bursts is briefly considered, and it is shown that some astrophysical parameters of the bursts, like the light curves, the maximum released energy, and the number of peaks in the light curve can be reproduced and explained, at least on a qualitative level, by working in a framework in which the systems settles in a Self Organized Critical state via magnetic reconnection processes in the magnetized Gamma Ray Burst fireball.

The exceptional aspects of the confined X-class flares of solar active region 2192

AbstractDuring late October 2014, active region NOAA 2192 caused an unusual high level of solar activity, within an otherwise weak solar cycle. While crossing the solar disk, during a period of 11 days, it was the source of 114 flares of GOES class C1.0 and larger, including 29 M- and 6 X-flares. Surprisingly, none of the major flares (GOES class M5.0 and larger) was accompanied by a coronal mass ejection, contrary to statistical tendencies found in the past. From modeling the coronal magnetic field of NOAA 2192 and its surrounding, we suspect that the cause of the confined character of the flares is the strong surrounding and overlying large-scale magnetic field. Furthermore, we find evidence for multiple magnetic reconnection processes within a single flare, during which electrons were accelerated to unusual high energies.

Coronal quasi-periodic fast-propagating magnetosonic waves observed by SDO/AIA

AbstractCoronal quasi-periodic fast-propagating (QFP) magnetosonic waves are scare in previous studies due to the relative low temporal and spatial resolution of past telescopes. Recently, they are detected by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Here, two cases of QFP waves are presented. The analysis results indicate that QFP waves are tightly associated with the associated flares. It is indicate that QFP waves and the associated flares are possibly driven by the same physic process such as quasi-periodic magnetic reconnection process in producing flares.

Phase diagrams of forced magnetic reconnection in Taylor’s model

Recent progress in the understanding of how externally driven magnetic reconnection evolves is organized in terms of parameter space diagrams. These diagrams are constructed using four pivotal dimensionless parameters: the Lundquist number $S$, the magnetic Prandtl number $P_{m}$, the amplitude of the boundary perturbation $\hat{{\it\Psi}}_{0}$, and the perturbation wave number $\hat{k}$. This new representation highlights the parameter regions of a given system in which the magnetic reconnection process is expected to be distinguished by a specific evolution. Contrary to previously proposed phase diagrams, the diagrams introduced here take into account the dynamical evolution of the reconnection process and are able to predict slow or fast reconnection regimes for the same values of $S$ and $P_{m}$, depending on the parameters that characterize the external drive, which have not been considered until now. These features are crucial to understanding the onset and evolution of magnetic reconnection in diverse physical systems.