Collaborative Research: Reconnection in the Dayside Magnetosphere

该项目将结合全球和当地的磁流体动力学(MHD)模拟来研究与地球磁层白天的磁重联有关的三个问题。这三个问题是：(1)全球重联速率是由本地条件还是外部条件控制的？(2)重联地点取决于引起重联的物理条件？(3)磁层顶的重联过程是连续的还是间歇性的？模拟将把局部阻性MHD和霍尔MHD代码耦合到全局MHD代码。模拟结果将与集群和THEMIS航天器飞行任务的现场观测结果进行比较。将开发的将本地代码和全球代码结合起来的技术将使研究多尺度结合成为可能，并且可能具有变革性。虽然这项研究针对的是地球磁层白天的磁重联，但磁重联的主题和局部与全球模拟的耦合技术将对地球夜间磁尾重联、太阳风和太阳日冕重联的研究产生影响，并有可能影响天体物理和实验室等离子体过程的研究。

This project will use a combination of global and local magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations to examine three questions concerning magnetic reconnection on the dayside of Earth's magnetosphere. The three questions are: (1) Is the global reconnection rate controlled by local or external conditions? (2) Is the site of reconnection dependent on the physics that causes reconnection? (3) Is the reconnection process at the magnetopause continuous or intermittent? The simulations will couple local resistive MHD and Hall MHD codes to a global MHD code. The results of the simulatons will be compared to in situ observations from the Cluster and THEMIS spacecraft missions. The techniques that will be developed for coupling the local and the global codes will make it possible to study multi-scale coupling and is potentially transformative. Although the research is directed toward magnetic reconnection on the dayside of Earth's magnetosphere, the topic of magnetic reconnection and the techniques for coupling local to global simulations will have impacts on studies of reconnection in Earth's night-side magnetotail, reconnection in the solar wind and in the sun's corona and has the potential to impact studies of astrophysical and laboratory plasma processes.