1. Observations of Secondary Magnetic Reconnection in the Turbulent Reconnection Outflow.
- Author
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Zhou, M., Man, H. Y., Deng, X. H., Pang, Y., Khotyaintsev, Y., Lapenta, G., Yi, Y. Y., Zhong, Z. H., and Ma, W. Q.
- Subjects
MAGNETIC reconnection ,CURRENT sheets ,ENERGY dissipation ,MAGNETIC fields ,ENERGY futures ,PLASMA turbulence - Abstract
Magnetic reconnection and turbulence are the two most important energy dissipation processes in plasma. These two processes intertwine with each other and play important roles in their respective dynamic evolution. Here, we present the first evidence that secondary reconnections occur in the turbulent outflow driven by a primary reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail. We have identified 14 secondary reconnections in a large number of current filaments in the turbulent outflow, which persisted for about one and half an hour. Most of these secondary reconnections were electron‐only reconnection that has recently been discovered in the magnetosheath. These secondary reconnections entangled the magnetic field lines and dissipated the magnetic energy in the outflow region far away from the primary X line. Plain Language Summary: Magnetic reconnection usually evolves into turbulent state. The role of turbulence in reconnection is one of the most outstanding questions in reconnection. By using the unprecedented high‐cadence data from the magnetospheric multiscale mission, we present the first evidence that secondary reconnections occur in the turbulent outflow driven by a primary reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail. Most of these secondary reconnections occurred in electron‐scale current sheets and were without ion couplings. These secondary reconnections future released energy in the outflow region besides the primary X line. These results are important for understanding the turbulent reconnection, which is ubiquitous in the astrophysical system but barely investigated by in situ measurements. Key Points: First observation of secondary reconnections in the turbulent outflow driven by primary reconnectionThese secondary reconnections occurred in current sheets with broad shear angles and different orientationsMost of these secondary reconnections were without clear ion couplings [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
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