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Detailed Reference Information |
Siscoe, G.L., Erickson, G.M., Sonnerup, B.U.Ö., Maynard, N.C., Schoendorf, J.A., Siebert, K.D., Weimer, D.R., White, W.W. and Wilson, G.R. (2002). Flow-through magnetic reconnection. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL013536. issn: 0094-8276. |
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This note reports properties of a little-studied but possibly common mode of magnetic reconnection-flow-through reconnection or FTR-characterized by plasma flowing at high speed right through a stationary reconnection site. FTR is readily identified in global MHD simulations by the following diagnostic properties, which affect slab-like portions (tongues) of the magnetopause, usually at high latitudes and along the flanks. 1. A magnetic null point lies near the downwind extreme of an FTR tongue. 2. Elsewhere within the tongue the magnetic field is also weak. 3. Electric current density is strong. 4. J-dot-E dissipation is strong. 5. Most remarkable, the electric field is antiparallel to and stronger than -V ¿ B, the motional electric field. This last property implies that plasma and magnetic field flow in opposite directions-plasma downwind, magnetic field upwind. Here we discuss FTR for strictly northward interplanetary magnetic field, which manifests FTR properties in idealized geometry. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers, Magnetospheric Physics, Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics, Magnetospheric Physics, Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions |
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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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