Electron Acceleration via Secondary Reconnection in the Separatrix Region of Magnetopause Reconnection
Abstract Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process known to play a crucial role in electron acceleration and heating, however, the mechanism of electron energization during reconnection is still not fully understood. This study introduces a novel electron acceleration mechanism in which electrons can be accelerated by secondary reconnection in the separatrix region. The secondary reconnection occurs in a thin current sheet resulted from the shear of the out‐of‐plane Hall magnetic fields of the primary magnetopause reconnection. It results in the intense electron energy fluxes toward the primary X ‐line. This mechanism will likely be an important piece in the puzzle of particle acceleration by reconnection.
Authors
- Wenqing Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6922-3793)
- Liangjin Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3934-2094)
- Xuesong Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5292-8562)
- Zhihong Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0617-4418)
- Xianjin Ou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2534-4470)
- Runqing Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8563-6234)
- Xiaohua Deng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2267-018X)
- Meng Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9964-8469)
- Y. Pang
Institutions
- Nanchang University (CN)
- Shandong University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2024-09-02
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl110152
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.66
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province