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Magnetic Reconnection in a Quasi‐Parallel Shock: Two‐Dimensional Local Particle‐in‐Cell Simulation
Author(s) -
Bessho N.,
Chen L.J.,
Wang S.,
Hesse M.,
Wilson L. B.
Publication year - 2019
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 - 10.1029/2019gl083397
Subject(s) - magnetic reconnection , physics , electron , current sheet , particle acceleration , shock (circulatory) , particle in cell , bow shock (aerodynamics) , magnetic field , acceleration , computational physics , outflow , particle (ecology) , magnetohydrodynamics , mechanics , shock wave , classical mechanics , meteorology , geology , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , medicine , oceanography
Abstract Magnetic reconnection in a quasi‐parallel bow shock is investigated with two‐dimensional local particle‐in‐cell simulations. In the shock transition and downstream regions, large amplitude magnetic fluctuations exist, and abundant current sheets form. In some current sheets, reconnection occurs, and ion‐scale and electron‐scale magnetic islands are generated. In electron‐scale island regions, only electron outflow jets are observed, producing a quadrupolar out‐of‐plane magnetic field pattern, while in ion‐scale islands, both ions and electrons are involved and energized in reconnection. Normalized reconnection rates are obtained to be between around 0.1 to 0.2, and particle acceleration signatures are seen in distribution functions.