Structure and Dynamics of the Diffusion Region During Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection

该项目涉及无碰撞等离子体中非线性能量转换的物理学，该物理学对空间、太阳和天体物理学以及实验室等离子体物理学具有重要应用。它的目的是产生新的知识，如何动力学规模的等离子体过程耦合到宏观现象。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学，这些电流片将不同密度、温度和磁场的等离子体分开，即所谓的非对称重联。由于缺乏对三维非对称重联的了解和对二维非对称重联的差异，空间观测、模拟和实验室实验将结合起来，建立一个关于粒子和场特性以及无碰撞非对称重联扩散区演化的新知识体系。 将利用多航天器集群使命在磁层顶重连事件期间进行的天基观测。伴随的模拟包括2维和3维的Particle-In-Cell和全球Hall-MHD研究，将与洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室的科学家合作进行。实验室实验将在普林斯顿等离子体物理实验室的磁重连实验中进行，研究结果在空间和基础等离子体物理界具有广泛的意义。两名研究生将参加该项目攻读博士学位。论文工作和项目成果也将纳入联合国大学本科生和研究生的各种课程，并将用于大学预科生的入门课程。

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.