Speaker
Dr
Daniel Graham
(Swedish Institute of Space Physics)
Description
The ion diffusion region of magnetic reconnection at Earth's magnetopause is
investigated using the magnetospheric multiscale (MMS) spacecraft. The ion diffusion
region is characterized by a strong DC electric field, primarily supported by the Hall
electric field, intense currents, and electron heating parallel to the background
magnetic field. Current structures well below ion spatial scales are resolved and the
electron motion associated with lower-hybrid drift waves is shown to contribute
significantly to the total current density. The electron heating is shown to be
consistent with large-scale parallel electric fields trapping and accelerating electrons,
rather than wave-particle interactions. These results show that sub-ion scale
processes occur in the ion diffusion region and are important for understanding
electron heating and acceleration.
Primary author
Dr
Daniel Graham
(Swedish Institute of Space Physics)
