Direct evidence of secondary reconnection inside filamentary currents of magnetic flux ropes during magnetic reconnection

Shimou Wang, Rongsheng Wang (), Quanming Lu (), Huishan Fu and Shui Wang
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Shimou Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Rongsheng Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Quanming Lu: University of Science and Technology of China
Huishan Fu: Beihang University
Shui Wang: University of Science and Technology of China

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental plasma process, by which magnetic energy is explosively released in the current sheet to energize charged particles and to create bi-directional Alfvénic plasma jets. Numerical simulations predicted that evolution of the reconnecting current sheet is dominated by formation and interaction of magnetic flux ropes, which finally leads to turbulence. Accordingly, most volume of the reconnecting current sheet is occupied by the ropes, and energy dissipation occurs via multiple relevant mechanisms, e.g., the parallel electric field, the rope coalescence and the rope contraction. As an essential element of the reconnecting current sheet, however, how these ropes evolve has been elusive. Here, we present direct evidence of secondary reconnection in the filamentary currents within the ropes. The observations indicate that secondary reconnection can make a significant contribution to energy conversion in the kinetic scale during turbulent reconnection.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-17803-3

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