The Role of Kinetic Instabilities and Waves in Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection
Abstract Magnetic reconnection converts magnetic field energy into particle energy by breaking and reconnecting magnetic field lines. Magnetic reconnection is a kinetic process that generates a wide variety of kinetic waves via wave-particle interactions. Kinetic waves have been proposed to play an important role in magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas by, for example, contributing to anomalous resistivity and diffusion, particle heating, and transfer of energy between different particle populations. These waves range from below the ion cyclotron frequency to above the electron plasma frequency and from ion kinetic scales down to electron Debye length scales. This review aims to describe the progress made in understanding the relationship between magnetic reconnection and kinetic waves. We focus on the waves in different parts of the reconnection region, namely, the diffusion region, separatrices, outflow regions, and jet fronts. Particular emphasis is placed on the recent observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft and numerical simulations, which have substantially increased the understanding of the interplay between kinetic waves and reconnection. Some of the ongoing questions related to waves and reconnection are discussed.
Authors
- K. Dokgo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3917-7885)
- J. F. Drake (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9150-1841)
- S. Eriksson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5619-1577)
- Takuma Nakamura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4550-2947)
- D. B. Graham (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1046-746X)
- Giulia Cozzani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5515-1998)
- Y. V. Khotyaintsev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5550-3113)
- Li‐Jen Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4768-189X)
- C. Norgren (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6561-2337)
- K. Steinvall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5861-1643)
- Hantao Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9600-9963)
- J. E. Stawarz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5702-5802)
- Louis Richard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3446-7322)
- J. C. Holmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5414-8604)
- Jörg Büchner
- Victoria Wilder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2463-4716)
Institutions
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Southwest Research Institute (US)
- Goddard Space Flight Center (US)
- Swedish Institute of Space Physics (SE)
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- Austrian Academy of Sciences (AT)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- The University of Texas at Arlington (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (US)
- Northumbria University (GB)
- Space Research Institute (AT)
- Joint Space Science Institute (US)
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (DE)
- University of Bergen (NO)
- Technische Universität Berlin (DE)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Space Science Reviews
- Published
- 2025-02-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-024-01133-7
- Citations
- 13
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 15.01
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Swedish National Space Agency
- Academy of Finland
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse
- Norges Forskningsråd
- Uppsala Universitet