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Asymmetrically varying guide field during magnetic reconnection: Particle-In-Cell simulations
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  • Susanne Flø Spinnangr,
  • Paul Tenfjord,
  • Michael Hesse,
  • Cecilia Norgren,
  • Håkon Midthun Kolstø,
  • Norah Kaggwa Kwagala,
  • Therese Moretto Jørgensen,
  • Judit Pérez-Coll Jiménez,
  • Michael Hesse
Susanne Flø Spinnangr
Space Plasma Physics Group, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Space Plasma Physics Group, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Paul Tenfjord
University of Bergen, University of Bergen
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Michael Hesse
University of Bergen
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Cecilia Norgren
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen
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Håkon Midthun Kolstø
Space Plasma Physics Group, University of Bergen, Space Plasma Physics Group, University of Bergen
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Norah Kaggwa Kwagala
University of Bergen, University of Bergen
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Therese Moretto Jørgensen
NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Ames Research Center
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Judit Pérez-Coll Jiménez
Space Plasma Physics Group, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Space Plasma Physics Group, Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen
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Michael Hesse
NASA Ames Research Center
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Abstract

Using fully kinetic Particle-In-Cell (PIC) modelling we investigate how magnetic reconnection responds to a varying guide field in one of the inflow regions. We find that the reconnection rate varies significantly when the orientation of the magnetic field changes between being strictly antiparallel and having a guide field. These variations are fairly consistent with the scaling relation for asymmetric reconnection developed by Cassak and Shay (2007). However, the rate is also found to be non-linearly modulated by changes in the ion inflow velocity. The spatio-temporal change in the inflow velocity arises as the magnetic forces reconfigure to regions of different magnetic field strengths. The variations in the inflow magnetic field configuration allow for different gradients in the magnetic field, leading to asymmetries in the magnetic tension force. By momentum conservation, this facilitates asymmetries in the inflow velocity, which in turn affects the flux transport into the reconnection site. The outflow is found to be less laminar when the inflow varies, and various signatures of the inflow variations are identified in the outflow.
Jan 2022Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics volume 127 issue 1. 10.1029/2021JA029955