Magnetic reconnection and modification of the Hall physics due to cold ions at the magnetopause

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• 作者：M. André ; W. Li ; S. Toledo‐Redondo ; Yu. V. Khotyaintsev ; A. Vaivads ; D. B. Graham ; C. Norgren ; J. Burch ; P.‐A. Lindqvist ; G. Marklund ; et al
• 刊名：Geophysical Research Letters
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：16 July 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：43
• 期：13
• 页码：6705-6712
• 全文大小：850.2KB
• ISSN：1944-8007

文摘

Observations by the four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft are used to investigate the Hall physics of a magnetopause magnetic reconnection separatrix layer. Inside this layer of currents and strong normal electric fields, cold (eV) ions of ionospheric origin can remain frozen-in together with the electrons. The cold ions reduce the Hall current. Using a generalized Ohm's law, the electric field is balanced by the sum of the terms corresponding to the Hall current, the v × B drifting cold ions, and the divergence of the electron pressure tensor. A mixture of hot and cold ions is common at the subsolar magnetopause. A mixture of length scales caused by a mixture of ion temperatures has significant effects on the Hall physics of magnetic reconnection.