Electron Diffusion Regions in Magnetotail Reconnection Under Varying Guide Fields. Issue 12 (24th June 2019) - Chen, L.‐J.
Abstract: Kinetic structures of electron diffusion regions (EDRs) under finite guide fields in magnetotail reconnection are reported. The EDRs with guide fields 0.14–0.5 (in unit of the reconnecting component) are detected by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft. The key new features include the following: (1) cold inflowing electrons accelerated along the guide field and demagnetized at the magnetic field minimum while remaining a coherent population with a low perpendicular temperature, (2) wave fluctuations generating strong perpendicular electron flows followed by alternating parallel flows inside the reconnecting current sheet under an intermediate guide field, and (3) gyrophase bunched electrons with high parallel speeds leaving the X‐line region. The normalized reconnection rates for the three EDRs range from 0.05 to 0.3. The measurements reveal that finite guide fields introduce new mechanisms to break the electron frozen‐in condition. Plain Language Summary: Magnetic reconnection plays a crucial role in the dynamics of the terrestrial magnetotail. For reconnection to occur, the plasma must decouple from the magnetic field. The bounce motion of particles in the magnetotail current sheet is regarded as a key to this decoupling for cases when the current sheet has no magnetic field along the direction of the current. This paper reports that while bounce motion remains relevant when a finite magnetic field is present along the current, new mechanisms to decouple electrons from the magnetic field are introduced, and new open questions unfold. The observations are based on measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. The mission's unprecedented high cadence electron data make possible the revelation of the new mechanisms. The results reported in this paper expand the frontiers of our knowledge on magnetotail reconnection and have major implications on the fundamental physics of magnetic reconnection in all plasma systems where binary collisions are not effective, including solar, astrophysical, and laboratory plasmas. Rapid dissemination of the results will set the ground for advances in magnetic reconnection research. Key Points: Kinetic structures of three electron diffusion regions under finite guide fields show that meandering remains relevant in all three cases Cold inflowing electrons are accelerated along the weak guide field yet fail to follow the local magnetic field at the field minimum For an intermediate guide field, wave fluctuations strongly influence electron dynamics in the reconnecting current sheet