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Magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail current sheet for varying cross‐tail magnetic field
Author(s) -
Hesse Michael,
Birn Joachim
Publication year - 1990
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/gl017i011p02019
Subject(s) - current sheet , magnetic reconnection , physics , magnetic field , magnetic flux , magnetohydrodynamics , flux (metallurgy) , electric field , plasma sheet , field (mathematics) , resistive touchscreen , field strength , mechanics , magnetosphere , geophysics , computational physics , materials science , mathematics , engineering , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics , electrical engineering , metallurgy
Three‐dimensional magnetic reconnection is investigated by means of resistive MHD simulations on the basis of magnetotail models with various magnitudes of the average net cross‐tail magnetic field component. Typical quantities such as parallel electric fields, reconnected flux and flow velocities are studied to determine the influence of increasing B y values on the fast dynamical evolution of the magnetotail. We find that a cross‐tail magnetic field of less than about 10% of the maximum lobe field strength, as typically observed, has little influence on the dynamic evolution. The dynamic growth becomes considerably suppressed for a cross‐tail field of about 25% of the lobe field strength, which is in the maximum observed range.