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Observations of Secondary Magnetic Reconnection in the Turbulent Reconnection Outflow
Author(s) -
Zhou M.,
Man H. Y.,
Deng X. H.,
Pang Y.,
Khotyaintsev Y.,
Lapenta G.,
Yi Y. Y.,
Zhong Z. H.,
Ma W. Q.
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2020gl091215
Subject(s) - magnetic reconnection , outflow , physics , magnetosheath , turbulence , current sheet , dissipation , astrophysics , magnetic field , geophysics , magnetohydrodynamics , magnetosphere , mechanics , magnetopause , meteorology , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
Magnetic reconnection and turbulence are the two most important energy dissipation processes in plasma. These two processes intertwine with each other and play important roles in their respective dynamic evolution. Here, we present the first evidence that secondary reconnections occur in the turbulent outflow driven by a primary reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail. We have identified 14 secondary reconnections in a large number of current filaments in the turbulent outflow, which persisted for about one and half an hour. Most of these secondary reconnections were electron‐only reconnection that has recently been discovered in the magnetosheath. These secondary reconnections entangled the magnetic field lines and dissipated the magnetic energy in the outflow region far away from the primary X line.