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Two-Scale Ion Meandering Caused by the Polarization Electric Field During Asymmetric ReconnectionIon velocity distribution functions (VDFs) from a particle-in-cell simulation of asymmetric reconnection are investigated to reveal a two-scale structure of the ion diffusion region (IDR). Ions bouncing in the inner IDR are trapped mainly by the electric field normal to the current sheet (N direction), while those reaching the outer IDR are turned back mainly by the magnetic force. The resulting inner layer VDFs have counter-streaming populations along N with decreasing counter-streaming speeds away from the midplane while maintaining the out-of-plane speed, and the outer layer VDFs exhibit crescent shapes toward the out-of-plane direction. Observations of the above VDF features and the normal electric fields provide evidence for the two-scale meandering motion.
Document ID
20170002774
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Wang, Shan
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Chen, Li-Jen
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Hesse, Michael
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Bessho, Naoki
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Baltimore, MD, United States)
Gershman, Daniel J.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Dorelli, John
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Giles, Barbara L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Torbert, Roy B.
(New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH, United States)
Pollock, Craig J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Strangeway, Robert
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Ergun, Robert E.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Burch, James L.
(Southwest Research Inst. San Antonio, TX, United States)
Avanov, Levon
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Lavraud, Benoit
(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Toulouse, France)
Moore, Thomas E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Saito, Yoshifumi
(Institute of Space and Astronautical Science Sagamihara, Japan)
Date Acquired
March 31, 2017
Publication Date
August 13, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
Volume: 43
Issue: 15
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Space Sciences (General)
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN40929
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG11PL02A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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