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Temporal Evolution of Flux Tube Entanglement at the Magnetopause as Observed by the MMS Satellites
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  • Yi Qi,
  • Christopher Russell,
  • Yingdong Jia,
  • Mark Hubbert
Yi Qi
University of California Los Angeles

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Christopher Russell
University of California Los Angeles
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Yingdong Jia
University of California Los Angeles
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Mark Hubbert
University of California Los Angeles
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Abstract

Flux transfer events (FTEs), as flux ropes (FRs), are considered key agents for solar wind energy to enter the terrestrial magnetosphere. Recent observations identify entangled flux tubes that collide and pull against each other. Reconnection occurs to disentangle and produce a new pair of flux ropes with different connectivity. In this paper, we examine how such an entanglement process evolve in time by comparing 17 entanglements observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. The By-dominated interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) distribution of the entangled tubes agrees with previous findings. We have identified three evolutionary stages characterized by the magnetic field and pressure enhancement. Our study confirms the flux rope nature of these events and explains how a disparate pair of ropes is formed from two entangled flux tubes, each initially connected to a different hemisphere of the magnetosphere.
16 Dec 2020Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 47 issue 23. 10.1029/2020GL090314