Electron pitch angle distribution during magnetic reconnection diffusion region observations in the Earth's magnetotail
Electron pitch angle distribution during magnetic reconnection diffusion region observations in the Earth's magnetotail
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DOI：
10.5194/angeo-30-109-2012
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发表时间：
2012-01
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
A. L. Borg;M. Taylor;J. Eastwood
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
A. L. Borg;M. Taylor;J. Eastwood
抽象的。地球的磁层为磁重联研究提供了一个极好的实验室。特别是，磁尾电流片之间形成的接口类似的北方和南半球的磁尾提供了一个相对稳定的对称重联配置，可用于研究重联过程的基本方面。特别重要的是电子在重联过程中的处理方式。离子扩散区域的模拟和卫星数据分析表明，在重联的流入区域中的电子通量在与磁场平行和反平行的方向（场对准）上更大，而流出区域中的电子通量分布更各向同性。然而，这只是在个案基础上进行了实验研究。在本文中，我们调查这一说法，通过分析在2001年至2006年的集群航天器的磁重联离子扩散区的遭遇过程中的流出和流入区域的体电子场对齐的程度。我们证明，虽然在流入区域的中值电子通量确实是更多的场对齐比在流出区域在一些离子扩散区域遇到，整个事件的签名的变化是如此之大，它不能说是一个一般的功能，在地球的磁尾磁重联。
Abstract. The Earth's magnetosphere provides an excellent laboratory for magnetic reconnection research. In particular, the magnetotail current sheet that is formed between the interface of the similar Northern and Southern Hemispheres of the magnetotail provides a relatively stable symmetric reconnection configuration that can be used to study basic aspects of the reconnection process. Of particular importance is the manner in which electrons are processed by the reconnection. Simulations and satellite data analyses of the ion diffusion region have suggested that the fluxes of electrons in the inflow regions of reconnection are greater in the directions parallel and anti-parallel to the magnetic field (field-aligned) whereas the electron flux in the outflow region is distributed more isotropically. However, this has only been studied experimentally on a case-by-case basis. In this paper, we investigate this claim by analyzing the degree of bulk electron field alignment in the outflow and inflow regions during encounters of the magnetic reconnection ion diffusion region by the Cluster spacecraft in the years 2001–2006. We demonstrate that while the median electron flux in the inflow region is indeed more field aligned than in the outflow region during some ion diffusion region encounters, the variation of the signature across events is so large that it cannot be said to be a general feature of magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail.