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A two-dimensional hybrid simulation of the magnetotail reconnection layer


Metadata FieldValueLanguage
dc.creatorLin, Y
dc.creatorSwift, D
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-29T19:22:46Z
dc.date.available2022-09-29T19:22:46Z
dc.date.created1996
dc.identifier10.1029/96JA01457en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/96JA01457en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://aurora.auburn.edu/handle/11200/50367
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.35099/aurora-435
dc.description.abstractTwo-dimensional (2-D) hybrid simulations are carried out to study the structure of the reconnection layer in the distant magnetotail. In the simulation an initial current sheet separates the two lobes with antiparallel magnetic field components in the x direction. The current sheet normal is along the z direction. It is found that a leading bulge-like magnetic configuration and a trailing, quasi-steady reconnection layer are formed in a magnetic reconnection. If the duration of the reconnection is sufficiently long, the trailing reconnection layer will dominate the plasma outflow region. For the symmetric lobes with B-y = 0, two pairs of slow shocks are present in the quasi-steady reconnection layer. The slow shocks are expected to be fully developed at a sufficient distance from the X line, where the separation between the two shocks is greater than a few tens of the lobe ion inertial length. The Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions of the slow shock are found to be better satisfied as the distance from the X line along the x axis increases. For the cases with B-y not equal 0 in the two lobes, two rotational discontinuity-like structures appear to develop in the reconnection layer. On the other hand, in the leading bulge region of a magnetic reconnection, no steady MHD discontinuities are found. Across the plasma sheet boundary layer the increase of the how velocity appears to be much smaller than that predicted from the Rankine-Hugoniot jump conditions for a steady discontinuity, and the increase in the ion number density is much larger. In addition, a large increase in the parallel ion temperature is found in the plasma sheet boundary layer. The 2-D simulation results are also compared with the one-dimensional hybrid simulations for the Riemann problem associated with the magnetotail reconnection. It is found that the 2-D effects may lead to the presence of the non-switch-off slow shocks and thus the lack of coherent wave trains in slow shocks.en_US
dc.formatPDFen_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries2169-9380en_US
dc.rights©American Geophysical Union 1996. This is this the version of record co-published by the American Geophysical Union and John Wiley & Sons, Inc. It is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. Item should be cited as: Lin, Y., and Do W. Swift. "A two‐dimensional hybrid simulation of the magnetotail reconnection layer." Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 101.A9 (1996): 19859-19870.en_US
dc.titleA two-dimensional hybrid simulation of the magnetotail reconnection layeren_US
dc.typeTexten_US
dc.type.genreJournal Article, Academic Journalen_US
dc.citation.volume101en_US
dc.citation.issueA9en_US
dc.citation.spage19859en_US
dc.citation.epage19870en_US
dc.description.statusPublisheden_US
dc.description.peerreviewYesen_US

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