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How Does Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection Work in the Presence of a Guide Magnetic Field?The dissipation mechanism of guide field magnetic reconnection remains a subject of intense scientific interest. On one hand, one set of recent studies have shown that particle inertia-based processes, which include thermal and bulk inertial effects, provide the reconnection electric field in the diffusion region. On the other hand, a second set of studies emphasizes the role of wave-particle interactions in providing anomalous resistivity in the diffusion region. In this presentation, we present analytical theory results, as well as 2.5 and three-dimensional PIC simulations of guide-field magnetic reconnection. We will show that diffusion region scale sizes in moderate and large guide field cases are determined by electron Larmor radii, and that analytical estimates of diffusion region dimensions need to include description of the heat flux tensor. The dominant electron dissipation process appears to be based on thermal electron inertia, expressed through nongyrotropic electron pressure tensors. We will argue that this process remains viable in three dimensions by means of a detailed comparison of high resolution particle-in-cell simulations.
Document ID
20070005128
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Hesse, Michael
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2006
Subject Category
Electronics And Electrical Engineering
Meeting Information
Meeting: Cosmic Plasma Physics Consortium
Location: Bochum
Country: Germany
Start Date: October 30, 2006
End Date: October 31, 2006
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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