Spontaneously Generated Flux Ropes in 3‐D Magnetic Reconnection
Abstract Magnetic reconnection is the key to explosive phenomena in the universe. The flux rope is crucial in three‐dimensional magnetic reconnection theory and is commonly considered to be generated by secondary tearing mode instability. Here we show that the parallel electron flow moving toward the reconnection diffusion region can spontaneously form flux ropes. The electron flows form parallel current tubes in the separatrix region where the observational parameters suggest the tearing and Kelvin‐Helmholtz instabilities are suppressed. The spontaneously formed flux ropes could indicate the importance of electron dynamics in a three‐dimensional reconnection region.
Authors
- I. J. Rae (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2637-4786)
- Yude Bu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9474-4734)
- Anmin Tian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4351-551X)
- C. T. Russell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1639-8298)
- J. L. Burch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0452-8403)
- Z. Y. Pu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8458-6648)
- W. Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5260-658X)
- Shichen Bai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8937-7987)
- Qiugang Zong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6414-3794)
- Yuchen Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9999-0571)
- S. Y. Fu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3858-1555)
- Shutao Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6059-2963)
- Alexander William Degeling (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7338-9270)
- Ruilong Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7125-0942)
- D. J. Gershman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1304-4769)
- Quanqi Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6835-4751)
- Zhonghua Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6826-2486)
Institutions
- Southwest Research Institute (US)
- Planetary Science Institute (US)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Shandong University (CN)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Peking University (CN)
- Northumbria University (GB)
- Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
- Published
- 2024-12-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024ja033461
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.66
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province