中国物理B ›› 2019, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (7): 75203-075203.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/28/7/075203

• PHYSICS OF GASES, PLASMAS, AND ELECTRIC DISCHARGES • 上一篇    下一篇

Formation of electron depletion layer and parallel electric field in the separatrix region of anti-parallel magnetic reconnection

Zisheng Li(李子圣), Huanyu Wang(王焕宇), Xinliang Gao(高新亮)   

  1. 1 CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
    2 CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, Hefei 230026, China
  • 收稿日期:2019-01-16 修回日期:2019-04-12 出版日期:2019-07-05 发布日期:2019-07-05
  • 通讯作者: Huanyu Wang E-mail:iuwon@ustc.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:

    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41774169, 41527804, and 41804159), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC010), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 2016395).

Formation of electron depletion layer and parallel electric field in the separatrix region of anti-parallel magnetic reconnection

Zisheng Li(李子圣)1,2, Huanyu Wang(王焕宇)1,2, Xinliang Gao(高新亮)1,2   

  1. 1 CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China;
    2 CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, Hefei 230026, China
  • Received:2019-01-16 Revised:2019-04-12 Online:2019-07-05 Published:2019-07-05
  • Contact: Huanyu Wang E-mail:iuwon@ustc.edu.cn
  • Supported by:

    Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41774169, 41527804, and 41804159), the Key Research Program of Frontier Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. QYZDJ-SSW-DQC010), and the Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 2016395).

摘要:

It is generally accepted that during collisionless magnetic reconnection, electrons flow toward the X line in the separatrix region, and then an electron depletion layer is formed. In this paper, with two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation, we investigate the characteristics of the separatrix region during magnetic reconnection. In addition to the electron depletion layer, we find that there still exists an electric field parallel to the magnetic field in the separatrix region. Because a reduced ion-to-electron mass ratio and light speed are usually used in PIC simulation models, we also change these parameters to analyze the characteristics of the separatrix region. It is found that the increase in the ion-to-electron mass ratio makes the electron depletion layer and the parallel electric field more obvious, while the influence of light speed is less pronounced.

关键词: magnetic reconnection, separatrix region, electron depletion layer

Abstract:

It is generally accepted that during collisionless magnetic reconnection, electrons flow toward the X line in the separatrix region, and then an electron depletion layer is formed. In this paper, with two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation, we investigate the characteristics of the separatrix region during magnetic reconnection. In addition to the electron depletion layer, we find that there still exists an electric field parallel to the magnetic field in the separatrix region. Because a reduced ion-to-electron mass ratio and light speed are usually used in PIC simulation models, we also change these parameters to analyze the characteristics of the separatrix region. It is found that the increase in the ion-to-electron mass ratio makes the electron depletion layer and the parallel electric field more obvious, while the influence of light speed is less pronounced.

Key words: magnetic reconnection, separatrix region, electron depletion layer

中图分类号:  (Magnetic reconnection)

  • 52.35.Vd
52.65.Rr (Particle-in-cell method) 52.30.-q (Plasma dynamics and flow)