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Detailed Reference Information |
Rogers, B.N., Drake, J.F. and Shay, M.A. (2000). The onset of turbulence in collisionless magnetic reconnection. Geophysical Research Letters 27: doi: 10.1029/2000GL000038. issn: 0094-8276. |
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Two dimensional simulations of collisionless magnetic reconnection produce strong gradients in the current and plasma profiles near the magnetic X-line and along the separatrix during the nonlinear phase. Here we present 3D two-fluid MHD simulations of reconnection that show these sharp gradients break up due to the onset of secondary instabilities, leading to a strongly turbulent configuration in the full 3D system. Two main secondary modes are observed, an electron shear flow instability and the lower-hybrid drift instability. The fluctuations driven by the former mode produce an effective anomalous viscosity (but no resistivity) near the X-line that breaks the frozen-in condition and broadens the main current profile. The lower-hybrid drift fluctuations cause a substantial relaxation of the gradients near the separatrix through a new mechanism, based not on direct particle transport (which is negligible) but rather on the turbulent diffusion of the strong electron flows near the separatrix. ¿ 2000 American Geophysical Union |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Space Plasma Physics, Magnetic reconnection, Space Plasma Physics, Transport processes, Space Plasma Physics, Turbulence |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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