Turbulence in Three-Dimensional Simulations of Magnetopause Reconnection

Abstract

We present detailed analysis of the turbulence observed in three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause. The parameters are representative of an electron diffusion region encounter of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. The turbulence is found to develop around both the magnetic X line and separatrices, is electromagnetic in nature, is characterized by a wave vector $k$ given by $k{\rho }_e\sim (m_e{T}_e/m_i{T}_i{)}^{0.25}$ with ${\rho }_e$ the electron Larmor radius, and appears to have the ion pressure gradient as its source of free energy. Taken together, these results suggest the instability is a variant of the lower hybrid drift instability. The turbulence produces electric field fluctuations in the out-of-plane direction (the direction of the reconnection electric field) with an amplitude of around $\pm 10$~mV/m, which is much greater than the reconnection electric field of around $0.1$~mV/m. Such large values of the out-of-plane electric field have been identified in the MMS data. The turbulence in the simulations controls the scale lengths of the density profile and current layers in asymmetric reconnection, driving them closer to $\sqrt{{\rho }_e{\rho }_i}$ than the ${\rho }_e$ or $d_e$ scalings seen in 2-D reconnection simulations, and produces significant anomalous resistivity and viscosity in the electron diffusion region.

11 pages, 10 figures

References in corpus (2)

• The Effects of Turbulence on Three-Dimensional Magnetic Reconnection at the Magnetopause
• Enhanced Electron Mixing and Heating in 3D Asymmetric Reconnection at the Earth's Magnetopause

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Magnetospheric Multiscale Dayside Reconnection Electron Diffusion Region Events
• Universality of lower hybrid waves at Earth's magnetopause
• Drift Turbulence, Particle Transport, and Anomalous Dissipation at the Reconnecting Magnetopause
• MMS observation of asymmetric reconnection supported by 3-D electron pressure divergence
• Cascades and Dissipative Anomalies in Nearly Collisionless Plasma Turbulence
• Characteristics of the Flank Magnetopause: THEMIS Observations
• Localized and intense energy conversion in the diffusion region of asymmetric magnetic reconnection
• Kinetic turbulence in fast 3D collisionless guide-field magnetic reconnection
• Local regimes of turbulence in 3D magnetic reconnection
• Turbulence and Transport During Guide-Field Reconnection at the Magnetopause
• In situ spacecraft observations of a structured electron diffusion region during magnetopause reconnection
• Laboratory verification of electron-scale reconnection regions modulated by a three-dimensional instability
• Assessing the time dependence of reconnection with Poynting's theorem: MMS observations
• Multi-scale coupling during magnetopause reconnection: the interface between the electron and ion diffusion regions
• Instabilities and Turbulence in Low-$\beta$ Guide Field Reconnection Exhausts with Kinetic Riemann Simulations
• Fluid Simulations of Three-Dimensional Reconnection that Capture the Lower-Hybrid Drift Instability