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Intense Electric Fields and Electron-Scale Substructure Within Magnetotail Flux Ropes as Revealed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale MissionThree flux ropes associated with near-Earth magnetotail reconnection are analyzed using Magnetospheric Multiscale observations. The flux ropes are Earthward propagating with sizes from ∼3 to 11 ion inertial lengths. Significantly different axial orientations are observed, suggesting spatiotemporal variability in the reconnection and/or flux rope dynamics. An electron-scale vortex, associated with one of the most intense electric fields (E) in the event, is observed within one of the flux ropes. This E is predominantly perpendicular to the magnetic field (B); the electron vortex is frozen-in with E × B drifting electrons carrying perpendicular current and causing a small-scale magnetic enhancement. The vortex is ∼16 electron gyroradii in size perpendicular to B and potentially elongated parallel to B. The need to decouple the frozen-in vortical motion from the surrounding plasma implies a parallel E at the structure's ends. The formation of frozen-in electron vortices within reconnection-generated flux ropes may have implications for particle acceleration.
Document ID
20180007191
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Stawarz, J. E.
(Imperial Coll. of London London, United Kingdom)
Eastwood, J. P.
(Imperial Coll. of London London, United Kingdom)
Genestreti, K. J.
(Space Research Inst. Graz, Austria)
Nakamura, R.
(Space Research Inst. Graz, Austria)
Ergun, R. E.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Burgess, D.
(Queen Mary, Univ. of London London, United Kingdom)
Burch, J. L.
(Southwest Research Inst. San Antonio, TX, United States)
Fuselier, S. A.
(Southwest Research Inst. San Antonio, TX, United States)
Gershman, D. J.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Giles, Barbara L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Contel, O. Le
(Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas. Paris, France)
Lindqvist, P.-A.
(Royal Inst. of Tech. Stockholm, Sweden)
Russell, C. T.
(California Univ. Los Angeles, CA, United States)
Torbert, R. B.
(New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH, United States)
Date Acquired
October 30, 2018
Publication Date
August 24, 2018
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher: American Geophyiscal Union
Volume: 45
Issue: 17
ISSN: 1944-8007
Subject Category
Plasma Physics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN61761
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNG04EB99C
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Magnetospheric Multiscale

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