EGU24-5176, updated on 08 Mar 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5176
EGU General Assembly 2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Why cannot ions form outflow for electron-only reconnection in kinetic turbulence?

Meng Zhang1,2, Meng Zhou1,2, Yongyuan Yi2, Liangjin Song2, Ye Pang2, and Hui Xiao
Meng Zhang et al.
  • 1NanChang University, Institute of Physics and Materials, Department of physics, China (zm_xplode@outlook.com)
  • 2Institute of Space Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China

Electron-only magnetic reconnection, in which ions do not couple, has recently been observed in the turbulent magnetosheath and magnetotail and is associated with magnetic flux rope coalescence. This paper reproduces the electron-only reconnection that in turbulent plasma environments via 2.5D particle-in-cell simulations. By statistical analysis and study of individual ion trajectories. We have discovered the reason why Electron-only magnetic reconnection ions cannot form an out flow in turbulence. Due to the weak magnetization effect of ions in turbulence, it is difficult for ions to enter the magnetic reconnection structure from the inflow region (only about 10% in our study). Due to the large cyclotron radius of ions in turbulence compared with the reconnection structure, it is difficult for the reconnected ions to be effectively deflected by the normal magnetic field to form an outflow. The ions are mainly affected by various electric fields generated by magnetic island motion in turbulence. We compared the results with standard magnetic reconnection and performed an energy analysis.

How to cite: Zhang, M., Zhou, M., Yi, Y., Song, L., Pang, Y., and Xiao, H.: Why cannot ions form outflow for electron-only reconnection in kinetic turbulence?, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-5176, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-5176, 2024.