Speaker
Description
During magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasma strong electron jets often emanate from the electron diffusion region (EDR). Given the results of the influential Sweet‐Parker reconnection model (derived for a collisional plasma), it is commonly assumed that these electron jets are driven by the reconnection electric field. In contrast, kinetic models and simulations have suggested that the jets are driven by anisotropic electron pressure which primarily form in the reconnection inflow regions. In particular, a new reduced kinetic theory will be presented [1,2], which details how the pressure anisotropy couples to the electron Speiser orbits of the EDR. This 1D model is derived in the adiabatic limit of a vanishing small reconnection rate, yet it largely accounts for the structures of all essential electron fluid quantities across the EDR, including the electron jet formation. The theory will be discussed in the context of fully kinetic simulations, laboratory experiments as well as MMS spacecraft observations from Earth’s magnetotail.
[1] Egedal J, “On a plasma sheath with a small normal magnetic field separating regions of oppositely directed magnetic field” (2023), Phys. Plasmas, 30(11).
[2] Egedal J, “The Adiabatic 1D Kinetic Equilibrium of the Electron Diffusion Region During Anti-Parallel Magnetic Reconnection” (2024), Geophy. Res. Lett., 51(10).
