Anisotropic Electron Heating in Turbulence-driven Magnetic Reconnection in the Near-Sun Solar Wind
Journal
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
•
•
Micera, Alfredo
•
Lapenta, Giovanni
•
Hellinger, Petr
•
DEL SARTO, DANIELE
•
Burgess, David
•
Abstract
We perform a high-resolution, 2D, fully kinetic numerical simulation of a turbulent plasma system with observation-driven conditions, in order to investigate the interplay between turbulence, magnetic reconnection, and particle heating from ion to subelectron scales in the near-Sun solar wind. We find that the power spectra of the turbulent plasma and electromagnetic fluctuations show multiple power-law intervals down to scales smaller than the electron gyroradius. Magnetic reconnection is observed to occur in correspondence of current sheets with a thickness of the order of the electron inertial length, which form and shrink owing to interacting ion-scale vortices. In some cases, both ion and electron outflows are observed (the classic reconnection scenario), while in others—typically for the shortest current sheets—only electron jets are present (“electron-only reconnection”). At the onset of reconnection, the electron temperature starts to increase and a strong parallel temperature anisotropy develops. This suggests that in strong turbulence electron-scale coherent structures may play a significant role for electron heating, as impulsive and localized phenomena such as magnetic reconnection can efficiently transfer energy from the electromagnetic fields to particles.
Volume
936
Issue
1
Start page
27
Issn Identifier
0004-637X
Ads BibCode
2022ApJ...936...27F
Rights
open.access
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