EGU2020-22028
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-22028
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Analysis of Local Regimes of Turbulence generated by 3D Magnetic Reconnection

lucia sanna1 and Giovanni lapenta2
lucia sanna and Giovanni lapenta
  • 1Italy (mauna.loa@fastwebnet.it)
  • 2KULeuven

The process of magnetic reconnection when studied in nature or when modeled in 3D simulations differs in one key way from the standard 2D paradigmatic cartoon: it is accompanied by many fluctuations in the electromagnetic fields and plasma properties. We developed a diagnostics to study the spectrum of fluctuations in the various regions around a reconnection site. We define the regions in terms of the local value of the flux function that determines the distance from the reconnection site, with positive values in the outflow and negative values in the inflow. We find that fluctuations belong to two very different regimes depending on the local plasma beta (defined as the ratio of plasma and magnetic pressures). The first regime develops in the reconnection outflows where beta is high and it is characterized by a strong link between plasma and electromagnetic fluctuations, leading to momentum and energy exchanges via anomalous viscosity and resistivity. But there is a second, low-beta regime: it develops in the inflow and in the region around the separatrix surfaces, including the reconnection electron diffusion region itself. It is remarkable that this low-beta plasma, where the magnetic pressure dominates, remains laminar even though the electromagnetic fields are turbulent.

[1] G. Lapenta et al 2020 ApJ 888 104,

How to cite: sanna, L. and lapenta, G.: Analysis of Local Regimes of Turbulence generated by 3D Magnetic Reconnection, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-22028, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-22028, 2020

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