Electron vorticity indicative of the electron diffusion region of magnetic reconnection

dc.contributor.authorHwang, K.‐J.
dc.contributor.authorChoi, E.
dc.contributor.authorDokgo, K.
dc.contributor.authorBurch, J. L.
dc.contributor.authorSibeck, D. G.
dc.contributor.authorGiles, B. L.
dc.contributor.authorGoldstein, M. L.
dc.contributor.authorPaterson, W. R.
dc.contributor.authorPollock, C. J.
dc.contributor.authorShi, Q. Q.
dc.contributor.authorFu, H.
dc.contributor.authorHasegawa, H.
dc.contributor.authorGershman, D. J.
dc.contributor.authorKhotyaintsev, Y.
dc.contributor.authorTorbert, R. B.
dc.contributor.authorErgun, R. E.
dc.contributor.authorDorelli, J. C.
dc.contributor.authorAvanov, L.
dc.contributor.authorRussell, C. T.
dc.contributor.authorStrangeway, R. J.
dc.date.accessioned2019-10-31T16:44:05Z
dc.date.available2019-10-31T16:44:05Z
dc.date.issued2019-06-27
dc.description.abstractAbstract While vorticity defined as the curl of the velocity has been broadly used in fluid and plasma physics, this quantity has been underutilized in space physics due to low time resolution observations. We report Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations of enhanced electron vorticity in the vicinity of the electron diffusion region of magnetic reconnection. On 11 July 2017 MMS traversed the magnetotail current sheet, observing tailward‐to‐earthward outflow reversal, current‐carrying electron jets in the direction along the electron meandering motion or out‐of‐plane direction, agyrotropic electron distribution functions, and dissipative signatures. At the edge of the electron jets, the electron vorticity increased with magnitudes greater than the electron gyrofrequency. The out‐of‐plane velocity shear along distance from the current sheet leads to the enhanced vorticity. This, in turn, contributes to the magnetic field perturbations observed by MMS. These observations indicate that electron vorticity can act as a proxy for delineating the electron diffusion region of magnetic reconnection. Plain Language Summary Magnetic reconnection, causing explosive magnetic energy conversion into particle energy, is one of the most fundamental physical processes occurring both within the heliosphere and throughout the universe. The multiscale kinetic structures associated with reconnection have long been a focus in space plasma physics. We investigated how electron vorticity, a physical quantity widely used in fluid physics, but underutilized in the plasma, in particular, reconnection physics, enables us to delineate multiscale kinetic boundaries of reconnection sites using the unprecedented time resolution data from National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft. The magnitude of electron vorticity to be compared with the electron gyrofrequency provides a frame‐independent indicator of the electron diffusion region, therefore, greatly advancing our ability to delineate the multiscale reconnection boundaries. This study, directly relevant to plasma/reconnection physics, will improve our understanding of fundamental physics with far‐reaching implications in astrophysicsen_US
dc.description.sponsorshipThis study was supported, in part, by NASA's MMS project at SwRI, NSF AGS‐1834451, NASA 80NSSC18K1534, 80NSSC18K0570, 80NSSC18K0693, and ISSI program: MMS and Cluster observations of magnetic reconnection. MMS data sets were provided by the MMS science working group teams through the link (http://lasp.colorado. edu/mms/sdc/public/). K. J. H. thanks all the members of the MMS instruments and Modeling/Theory team.en_US
dc.description.urihttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019GL082710en_US
dc.format.extent10 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m21gr3-94cn
dc.identifier.citationHwang, K.‐J.; Choi, E.; Dokgo, K.; Burch, J. L.; Sibeck, D. G.; Giles, B. L.; Goldstein, M. L.; Paterson, W. R.; Pollock, C. J.; Shi, Q. Q.; Fu, H.; Hasegawa, H.; Gershman, D. J.; Khotyaintsev, Y.; Torbert, R. B.; Ergun, R. E.; Dorelli, J. C.; Avanov, L.; Russell, C. T.; Strangeway, R. J.; Electron vorticity indicative of the electron diffusion region of magnetic reconnection. Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 6287–6296. ; https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2019GL082710en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082710
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/16012
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Geophysical Unionen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Goddard Planetary Heliophysics Institute (GPHI)
dc.rightsThis item is likely protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. Unless on a Creative Commons license, for uses protected by Copyright Law, contact the copyright holder or the author.
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/*
dc.subjectmagnetic reconnectionen_US
dc.subjectelectron diffusion regionen_US
dc.subjectelectron vorticityen_US
dc.subjectreconnectionen_US
dc.subjectmagnetotailen_US
dc.subjectcurrent sheeten_US
dc.titleElectron vorticity indicative of the electron diffusion region of magnetic reconnectionen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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