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The magnetic reconnection
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Magnetic reconnection is an important and universal plasma phenomenon.
LPP team :
N. Aunai, G. Belmont, P. Canu, O. Le Contel, A. Retino, R. Smets
Selection of publications
- N. Aunai, G. Belmont, and R. Smets, Proton acceleration in antiparallel collisionless magnetic reconnection : Kinetic mechanisms behind the fluid dynamics, J. Geophys. Res., 116(A), 09232, 2011.
- N. Aunai, A. Retino, G. Belmont, R. Smets, B. Lavraud and A. Vaivads, The proton pressure tensor as a new proxy of the proton decoupling region in collisionless magnetic reconnection, Ann. Geophys., 29, 1571–1579, 2011.
What is reconnection ?
It occurs within layers of electric current, formed during the interaction of plasma environments within which the magnetic field has different orientations. When these layers become thin enough to reach a dissipative scale, the magnetic field lines can change their connectivity, which otherwise must be conserved. The process is illustrated in figure 1.
- Figure 1
- De gauche à droite, on peut voir les lignes de champ magnétique (lignes noires) et le plasma (particules colorées) interagir et changer leur connectivité. Les particules vertes, auparavant connectées magnétiquement, deviennent alors magnétiquement disjointes, et reconnectées aux particules violettes. A l’instar d’un élastique, les lignes de champ magnétique se détendent et libèrent l’énergie précédemment accumulée dans le système en accélérant et chauffant le plasma.
The reconnection in the LPP space plasma team :
- Figure 2
- Représentation du système Soleil-Terre (et plus généralement Etoile-Planète). En bas sont représentés de gauche à droite, le pulsar central de la nébuleuse du crabe, une vue d’artiste de Magnétar, et la région du trou noir central de notre voie lactée, qui sont autant d’environnements astrophysique où la reconnexion pourrait jouer un rôle crucial dans l’accélération de particules très énergétiques.
As can be seen in figure 2, the sun-blown plasma wind flows into the interplanetary medium and interacts with the magnetospheres. Reconnection plays an important role at all stages of this way : trigger solar eruptions, affect the propagation of coronal mass ejections in the interplanetary medium, control how these structures interact with the magnetosphere, and finally accelerate and heat the plasma in the magnetotail.
Within the team, we essentially study this process when it takes place in the solar system, the only environment accessible with space missions. We analyze the data measured in situ by satellites in the interplanetary medium and in the terrestrial magnetosphere. These environments constitute a real laboratory for the study of reconnection, from which we can extrapolate certain behaviors to inaccessible astrophysical environments, or compare them to laboratory phenomena occurring in magnetic confinement devices such as the Tokamaks.
In situ measurements, among which those acquired by Cluster, Themis or Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) missions, give information on micro physics and collisionless mechanisms that govern reconnection, acceleration and heating of the plasma.
- Figure 3
- Exemple de signatures associées à un événement de reconnexion magnétique mesuré par Cluster à la magnétopause terrestre.
Together with the satellite observations, we study the mechanisms governing the evolution of the reconnection and its impact on its environment via numerical simulation.
According to the scale considered, we use codes with different approximations. Some codes treat plasma as a fluid, others as a set of particles, and others are hybrid, treating ions as particles and electrons as a fluid. The simulations allow, in a complementary way to the observations, to isolate certain physical mechanisms in a simplified and reproducible framework.
- A propos de reconnexion ... (figures issues de simulations hybride, full-PIC et particule-test). Source : N. Aunai.
Examples of issues addressed in LPP :
– What is the impact of the imposed large-scale plasma environment (asymmetries, geometry, etc.) on the reconnection process ? For example, what are the differences between reconnection at the magnetopause and in the magnetospheric tail ?
– What are the critical regions where the plasma cannot be assimilated to a fluid but must be treated as particles ? What are the mechanisms of heating and acceleration of particles ? How can we reconcile the particle point of view with the fluid point of view ?
– What is the link between reconnection and turbulence ? Is reconnection a source of turbulence, and to what extent does it contribute to the dissipation of energy at small scales ?
Other questions are addressed by researchers working on laboratory experiments : triggering of sawtteeth in Tokamaks, LASER reconnection, applications to high energy density physics,...
Dans la même rubrique :
- Modélisation théorique des plasmas sans collision
- Turbulence
- La reconnexion magnétique
- Accélération, rayonnement et turbulence dans les régions aurorales terrestres
- Les ondes de choc sans collision
- Génération du vent solaire
- Magnétopause de la Terre
- Magnétosphères planétaires
- Modélisation des environnements plasmas des petites planètes
- Météorologie de l’espace
- Sous-orages magnétosphériques
- Activité Solaire
