Structure and Dynamics of the Diffusion Region During Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

本项目研究无碰撞等离子体中非线性能量转换的物理特性，在空间、太阳和天体物理以及实验室等离子体物理中具有重要应用。它旨在产生关于动力学尺度等离子体过程如何与宏观现象耦合的新知识。这项工作的总体目标是了解磁重联电流片的扩散区域的物理特性，磁重联电流片分离了不同密度、温度和磁场的等离子体，即所谓的不对称重联。由于三维不对称重联的知识缺乏和二维不对称重联的差异，空间观测、模拟和实验室实验将结合起来，建立一个关于无碰撞不对称重联扩散区粒子和场特征及其演化的新知识体系。在磁层顶重联事件期间，将使用多航天器星团任务的天基观测。与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室的科学家合作，将进行由二维和三维细胞内粒子和全球Hall-MHD研究组成的模拟。实验将在普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室的磁重联实验（MRX）中进行。研究结果在空间和基础等离子体物理界引起了广泛的兴趣。两名研究生将参与该项目的博士论文工作，该项目的成果也将纳入UNH本科生和研究生的各种课程，并将用于大学预科学生的入门课程。

This project concerns the physics of the nonlinear energy conversion in collisionless plasmas, which has crucial applications to space, solar and astrophysical physics as well as laboratory plasma physics. It is aimed at producing new knowledge of how kinetic-scale plasma processes couple to macroscopic phenomena. The overall objective of the effort is to understand the physics of the diffusion region of magnetic reconnection current sheets that separate plasmas of different densities, temperatures, and magnetic fields - so called asymmetric reconnection. Motivated by the lack of knowledge on 3D asymmetric reconnection and discrepancies on 2D asymmetric reconnection, space observations, simulations, and laboratory experiments will be combined to build a body of new knowledge on particle and field characteristics and evolution in the diffusion region of collisionless asymmetric reconnection. Space-based observations from the multi-spacecraft Cluster mission during magnetopause reconnection events will be used. Accompanying simulations consisting of 2- and 3-dimensional Particle-In-Cell and global Hall-MHD studies will be undertaken in collaboration with scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The laboratory experiments will be carried out in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory.Results from the investigation are of interest broadly in the space and basic plasma physics communities. Two graduate students will participate in the project for their Ph.D. thesis work and the results of the project will also be incorporated into various courses for undergraduate and graduate students at UNH and will be used in introductory courses for pre-college students.