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Electron jet of asymmetric reconnection
Author(s) -
Khotyaintsev Yu. V.,
Graham D. B.,
Norgren C.,
Eriksson E.,
Li W.,
Johlander A.,
Vaivads A.,
André M.,
Pritchett P. L.,
Retinò A.,
Phan T. D.,
Ergun R. E.,
Goodrich K.,
Lindqvist P.A.,
Marklund G. T.,
Le Contel O.,
Plaschke F.,
Magnes W.,
Strangeway R. J.,
Russell C. T.,
Vaith H.,
Argall M. R.,
Kletzing C. A.,
Nakamura R.,
Torbert R. B.,
Paterson W. R.,
Gershman D. J.,
Dorelli J. C.,
Avanov L. A.,
Lavraud B.,
Saito Y.,
Giles B. L.,
Pollock C. J.,
Turner D. L.,
Blake J. D.,
Fennell J. F.,
Jaynes A.,
Mauk B. H.,
Burch J. L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl069064
Subject(s) - physics , magnetic reconnection , electron , magnetopause , instability , jet (fluid) , atomic physics , plasma , computational physics , mechanics , solar wind , quantum mechanics
We present Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of an electron‐scale current sheet and electron outflow jet for asymmetric reconnection with guide field at the subsolar magnetopause. The electron jet observed within the reconnection region has an electron Mach number of 0.35 and is associated with electron agyrotropy. The jet is unstable to an electrostatic instability which generates intense waves with E ∥ amplitudes reaching up to 300 mV m −1 and potentials up to 20% of the electron thermal energy. We see evidence of interaction between the waves and the electron beam, leading to quick thermalization of the beam and stabilization of the instability. The wave phase speed is comparable to the ion thermal speed, suggesting that the instability is of Buneman type, and therefore introduces electron‐ion drag and leads to braking of the electron flow. Our observations demonstrate that electrostatic turbulence plays an important role in the electron‐scale physics of asymmetric reconnection.