HR: 09:15h
AN: SM51D-06    [Abstracts]
TI: The Magnetic Reconnection Diffusion Region from Four-Spacecraft Observations
AU: * Andre, M
EM: mats.andre@irfu.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, SE 751 21 Sweden
AU: Vaivads, A
EM: andris@irfu.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, SE 751 21 Sweden
AU: Khotyaintsev, Y
EM: yuri@irfu.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, SE 751 21 Sweden
AU: Retino, A
EM: retino@irfu.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, SE 751 21 Sweden
AU: Buchert, S C
EM: scb@irfu.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, SE 751 21 Sweden
AU: Decreau, P
EM: pdecreau@cnrs-orleans.fr
AF: LPCE/CNRS, 3A, Ave. de la Recherche Scientifique, Orleans, F 45071 France
AU: Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N
EM: nicole.cornilleau@cetp.ipsl.fr
AF: CETP, 10/12 Avenue de L'Europe, Velizy, F-78140 France
AB: Magnetic reconnection leads to energy conversion in large volumes in space but is initiated in small diffusion regions. Due to the small sizes of the diffusion regions, their crossings by spacecraft are rare. We report on Cluster observations of diffusion region encounters. These four-spacecraft observations allow us to reliably distinguish spatial from temporal features. Examples show that diffusion regions are stable on ion time and length scales in agreement with numerical simulations. The electric field normal to the current sheet is balanced by the Hall term in the Generalized Ohm's Law, thus establishing that Hall physics is dominating the diffusion region. The reconnection rate is fast, about 0.1. Strong parallel currents flow along the separatrices, and are correlated with Langmuir or upper hybrid waves.
UR: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v93/e105001
DE: 7835 Magnetic reconnection
DE: 2724 Magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting