Fundamental Properties of Magnetic Reconnection in Large-scale Current Sheets

本研究通过对日球层电流片的观测，解决了重联物理学中悬而未决的问题。首席研究员将使用来自风、星团和高级成分探测器（ACE）的太阳风数据来研究原位重联事件。除了探索基本的等离子体物理之外，提案的目标是确定重联对引导场（穿过电流片的磁剪切）大小的依赖关系，这种重联是稳定的还是间歇性的，以及哪些参数对控制重联率很重要。

This research addresses outstanding questions in reconnection physics by using observations of the heliospheric current sheet. The Principal Investigator will use solar wind data from the Wind, Cluster, and Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft to study reconnection events in situ. In addition to exploring basic plasma physics, the proposal objectives are to determine the dependence of reconnection on the magnitude of the guide field (the magnetic shear across the current sheet), whether such reconnection is steady or intermittent, and which parameters are important for controlling the reconnection rate.