Magnetopause reconnection and indents induced by foreshock turbulence

Abstract

Based on global hybrid simulation results, we predict that foreshock turbulence can reach the magnetopause and lead to reconnection as well as Earth-sized indents. Both the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and solar wind are constant in our simulation, and hence all dynamics are generated by foreshock instabilities. The IMF in the simulation is mostly Sun-Earth aligned with a weak northward and zero dawn-dusk component, such that subsolar magnetopause reconnection is not expected without foreshock turbulence modifying the magnetosheath fields. We show a reconnection example to illustrate that the turbulence can create large magnetic shear angles across the magnetopause to induce local bursty reconnection. Magnetopause reconnection and indents developed from the impact of foreshock turbulence can potentially contribute to dayside loss of planetary plasmas.

arXiv commentsubmitted to Geophysical Research Letters; added discussions and references

References in corpus (3)

• Magnetopause expansions for quasi-radial interplanetary magnetic field: THEMIS and Geotail observations
• Pressure balance at the magnetopause: Experimental studies
• Magnetopause reconnection and indents induced by foreshock turbulence

Cited by in corpus (5)

• Magnetopause reconnection and indents induced by foreshock turbulence
• Bursty magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause triggered by high-speed jets
• Formation and Evolution of Coherent Structures in 3D Strongly Turbulent Magnetized Plasmas
• Soft X-ray imaging of Earth's dayside magnetosheath and cusps using hybrid simulations
• Hybrid simulations of the cusp and dayside magnetosheath dynamics under \ quasi-radial interplanetary magnetic fields