Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current Sheet
Recently, a new type of magnetic reconnection, electron-only reconnection—where there is no obvious ion flow and heating—has been observed in various plasma environments. Previous kinetic simulations have shown that electron-only reconnection is a precursor of standard reconnection. In this paper, b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9b15 |
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| author | Yundan Guan Quanming Lu San Lu Rongsheng Wang |
| author_facet | Yundan Guan Quanming Lu San Lu Rongsheng Wang |
| author_sort | Yundan Guan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recently, a new type of magnetic reconnection, electron-only reconnection—where there is no obvious ion flow and heating—has been observed in various plasma environments. Previous kinetic simulations have shown that electron-only reconnection is a precursor of standard reconnection. In this paper, by performing a 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation, we investigate the evolution of electron-only magnetic reconnection to standard magnetic reconnection in a current sheet, whose initial width is of the electron inertial length. In the electron-only reconnection stage, electron outflow produces the electron-scale ${B}_{z}$ pileup, and ions are slightly accelerated in the outflow direction by the Hall electric field force. As the reconnection electric field expands and ${B}_{z}$ is piled up to the ion scale, ions start to be further accelerated inside the ion diffusion region and reflected by the ${B}_{z}$ to the outflow direction. With ${B}_{z}$ pileup as the bond, ions gradually transit from being accelerated by the Hall electric field to being coupled in reconnection by the Lorentz force. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-aae2f609153a408287c630b1954a4597 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-aae2f609153a408287c630b1954a45972025-01-20T07:15:34ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-0197918410.3847/1538-4357/ad9b15Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current SheetYundan Guan0https://orcid.org/0009-0000-3339-8818Quanming Lu1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3041-2682San Lu2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2248-5072Rongsheng Wang3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9511-7660CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Lab of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China ; qmlu@ustc.edu.cn, lusan@ustc.edu.cnCAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Lab of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China ; qmlu@ustc.edu.cn, lusan@ustc.edu.cn; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory , Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Lab of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China ; qmlu@ustc.edu.cn, lusan@ustc.edu.cn; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory , Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of ChinaCAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Lab of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China ; qmlu@ustc.edu.cn, lusan@ustc.edu.cn; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory , Hefei, Anhui, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of ChinaRecently, a new type of magnetic reconnection, electron-only reconnection—where there is no obvious ion flow and heating—has been observed in various plasma environments. Previous kinetic simulations have shown that electron-only reconnection is a precursor of standard reconnection. In this paper, by performing a 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation, we investigate the evolution of electron-only magnetic reconnection to standard magnetic reconnection in a current sheet, whose initial width is of the electron inertial length. In the electron-only reconnection stage, electron outflow produces the electron-scale ${B}_{z}$ pileup, and ions are slightly accelerated in the outflow direction by the Hall electric field force. As the reconnection electric field expands and ${B}_{z}$ is piled up to the ion scale, ions start to be further accelerated inside the ion diffusion region and reflected by the ${B}_{z}$ to the outflow direction. With ${B}_{z}$ pileup as the bond, ions gradually transit from being accelerated by the Hall electric field to being coupled in reconnection by the Lorentz force.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9b15Plasma physicsSpace plasmasPlanetary magnetospheres |
| spellingShingle | Yundan Guan Quanming Lu San Lu Rongsheng Wang Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current Sheet The Astrophysical Journal Plasma physics Space plasmas Planetary magnetospheres |
| title | Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current Sheet |
| title_full | Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current Sheet |
| title_fullStr | Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current Sheet |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current Sheet |
| title_short | Evolution of Magnetic Reconnection in an Electron-scale Current Sheet |
| title_sort | evolution of magnetic reconnection in an electron scale current sheet |
| topic | Plasma physics Space plasmas Planetary magnetospheres |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad9b15 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yundanguan evolutionofmagneticreconnectioninanelectronscalecurrentsheet AT quanminglu evolutionofmagneticreconnectioninanelectronscalecurrentsheet AT sanlu evolutionofmagneticreconnectioninanelectronscalecurrentsheet AT rongshengwang evolutionofmagneticreconnectioninanelectronscalecurrentsheet |