Understanding of Magnetopause Reconnection Through Recent Advances in Observations and Simulations

该项目将使用POLAR航天器（美国航天局国际日地物理学方案的一部分任务）的航天器观测与动力学、三维模拟相结合，以研究无碰撞磁重联的物理动力学。 地球的磁层顶提供了一个理想的实验室，用于测试和验证通过重连动力学模拟获得的结果。 部分研究将涉及建立一个POLAR航天器事件数据库，其中卫星穿过重联分界线和电子扩散区。 然后将航天器数据与动力学模拟进行比较。具体而言，该项目将研究与磁重联物理学有关的三个问题：（1）电子扩散区如何在过程中演变，导致次级岛和重联率的时间波动;（2）电子层如何相互作用以产生湍流重联;以及（3）磁场重联是如何产生平行于周围磁场的电场以及这些结构如何发展到宏观尺度的，磁场重联在磁场的转换过程中起着至关重要的作用将储存在磁场中的能量转化为电子和离子的动能。 特别是，无碰撞重联是能量从太阳风转移到地球磁层的主要机制。 磁重联在磁亚暴和磁暴的产生中也起着至关重要的作用。 这些过程对我们理解空间天气很重要。 将向空间科学界提供重连事件数据库和模拟结果。

This project will use a combination of spacecraft observations from the POLAR spacecraft (one of the missions that was part of NASA's International Solar Terrestrial Physics program) in conjunction with kinetic, 3-D simulations to examine the physical dynamics of collisionless magnetic reconnection. Earth's magnetopause provides an ideal laboratory for testing the validating the results that have been obtained by kinetic simulations of reconnection. Part of the research will involve the creation of a database of events from the POLAR spacecraft where the satellite crossed the reconnection separatrix and electron diffusion region. The spacecraft data will then be compared to the kinetic simulations. Specifically the project will examine three issues related to the physics of magnetic reconnection: (1) How the electron diffusion region evolves during the process, which leads to secondary islands and temporal fluctuations in the reconnection rate; (2) How the electron layers interact to generate turbulent reconnection; and (3) How the reconnection process leads to electric fields parallel to the ambient magnetic field and how these structures grow to macroscopic scales.Magnetic reconnection plays a critical role in the process of converting energy stored in a magnetic field to kinetic energy of electrons and ions. In particular, collisionless reconnection is the primary mechanism by which energy is transferred from the solar wind into Earth's magnetosphere. Magnetic reconnection also plays a critical role in the generation of magnetic substorms and storms. These processes are important to our understanding of space weather. The database of reconnection events and the results from the simulations will both be made available to the space science community.