HR: 0800h
AN: SM21A-0461    [Abstracts]
TI: The Effect of Heavy Ions and Mass Density on Magnetic Reconnection
AU: * Shay, M A
EM: shay@umd.edu
AF: University of Maryland, IREAP Energy Research Bldg University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 United States
AU: Swisdak, M
EM: swisdak@ppdmail.nrl.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, Plasma Physics Division Naval Reserach Laboratory, Washington, DC 20375 United States
AB: Reconnection plays an integral role in magnetospheric dynamics, but currently there is no clear understanding of when and how heavy ions will impact the reconnection process. Understanding the effect of heavy ions is important because the mass density of O+ in the magnetotail often exceeds that of the protons. Using theoretical arguments and three-fluid simulations, we examine reconnection in a three-species plasma. Besides the usual two length scales present in two-species reconnection, there are two additional larger length scales in the system: one associated with a "heavy whistler'' which produces a large scale quadrupolar out-of-plane magnetic field, and one associated with the "heavy Alfven" wave which can slow the outflow speed and thus the reconnection rate. The consequences for magnetotail reconnection and satellite signatures will be discussed.
DE: 7835 Magnetic reconnection
DE: 2744 Magnetotail
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting