EGU2020-3573, updated on 15 Jan 2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3573
EGU General Assembly 2020
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Identifying and Quantifying the Role of Magnetic Reconnection in Space Plasma Turbulence

Jeffersson Andres Agudelo Rueda1, Daniel Verscharen1, Robert Wicks1, Christopher Owen1, Georgios Nicolaou1, Andrew Walsh2, Yannis Zouganelis2, and Santiago Vargas3
Jeffersson Andres Agudelo Rueda et al.
  • 1University College London, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Department of Space and Climate Physics, United Kingdom (ucasjaa@ucl.ac.uk)
  • 2European Space Agency, European Space Astronomy Centre, Spain
  • 3Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Observatorio Astronomico Nacional, Colombia

One of the outstanding open questions in space plasma physics is the heating problem in the solar corona and the solar wind. In-situ measurements, as well as MHD and kinetic simulations, suggest a relation between the turbulent nature of plasma and the onset of magnetic reconnection as a channel of energy dissipation, particle acceleration and a heating mechanism. It has also been proven that non-linear interactions between counter propagating Alfvén waves drives plasma towards a turbulent state. On the other hand, the interactions between particles and waves becomes stronger at scales near the ion(electron) gyroradious ρi (ρe ), and so turbulence can enhance conditions for reconnection and increase the number of reconnection sites. Therefore, there is a close link between turbulence and reconnection. We use fully kinetic particle in cell (PIC) simulations, able to resolve the kinetic phenomena, to study the onset of reconnection in a 3D simulation box with parameters similar to the solar wind under Alfvénic turbulence. We identify in our simulations characteristic features of reconnection sites as steep gradients of the magnetic field strength alongside with the formation of strong current sheets and inflow-outflow patterns of plasma particles near the diffusion regions. These results will be used to quantify the role reconnection in plasma turbulence.

How to cite: Agudelo Rueda, J. A., Verscharen, D., Wicks, R., Owen, C., Nicolaou, G., Walsh, A., Zouganelis, Y., and Vargas, S.: Identifying and Quantifying the Role of Magnetic Reconnection in Space Plasma Turbulence, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-3573, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-3573, 2020

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