Structure of the dissipation region in fluid simulations of asymmetric magnetic reconnection

被引：45

作者：

Cassak, P. A. ^{[1
]}

Shay, M. A. ^{[2
]}

机构：

[1] W Virginia Univ, Dept Phys, Morgantown, WV 26506 USA

[2] Univ Delaware, Dept Phys & Astron, Newark, DE 19716 USA

来源：

PHYSICS OF PLASMAS | 2009年 / 16卷 / 05期

关键词：

magnetic reconnection; magnetosphere; plasma magnetohydrodynamics; plasma simulation; CURRENT SHEET; DAYSIDE MAGNETOPAUSE; DENSITY ASYMMETRY; TRANSFER EVENTS; X-LINE; FIELD; LAYER; FLOW; SHEAR;

D O I：

10.1063/1.3086867

中图分类号：

O35 [流体力学]; O53 [等离子体物理学];

学科分类号：

070204 ; 080103 ; 080704 ;

摘要：

The structure of the dissipation region during asymmetric magnetic reconnection is studied assuming antiparallel magnetic fields in two dimensions. A physics-based prediction for the scaling of the thickness of the dissipation region in (collisionless) Hall reconnection is presented and confirmed with two-fluid simulations. However, the substructure of the dissipation region in these and additional single-fluid (magnetohydrodynamics) simulations disagrees with a recent model [Cassak and Shay, Phys. Plasmas 14, 102114 (2007)]. We attribute the disagreement to the lack of plasma mixing along newly reconnected field lines in fluid models, rendering the use of a fluid description of questionable validity for determining the dissipation region substructure. Applications to the dayside magnetopause are discussed.

引用

页数：11