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Orientation of the X-line in asymmetric magnetic reconnection

Part of: Fundamental Problems of Plasma Astrophysics Pellat Thesis Prize Winners

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2016

N. Aunai ,
M. Hesse ,
B. Lavraud ,
J. Dargent  and
R. Smets
N. Aunai*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris-Sud, Observatoire de Paris, France
M. Hesse
Affiliation:
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Heliophysics Division, Greenbelt, MD, USA
B. Lavraud
Affiliation:
Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
J. Dargent
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris-Sud, Observatoire de Paris, France
R. Smets
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Université Paris-Sud, Observatoire de Paris, France
*
†Email address for correspondence: nicolas.aunai@lpp.polytechnique.fr
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Abstract

Magnetic reconnection can occur in current sheets separating magnetic fields sheared by any angle and of arbitrarily different amplitudes. In such asymmetric and non-coplanar systems, it is not yet understood what the orientation of the X-line will be. Studying how this orientation is determined locally by the reconnection process is important to understand systems such as the Earth magnetopause, where reconnection occurs in regions with large differences in upstream plasma and field properties. This study aims at determining what the local X-line orientation is for different upstream magnetic shear angles in an asymmetric set-up relevant to the Earth’s magnetopause. We use two-dimensional hybrid simulations and vary the simulation plane orientation with regard to the fixed magnetic field profile and search for the plane maximizing the reconnection rate. We find that the plane defined by the bisector of upstream fields maximizes the reconnection rate and this appears not to depend on the magnetic shear angle, domain size or upstream plasma and asymmetries.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Plasma Physics , Volume 82 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , 535820401
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2016 

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