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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 35,
L14104,
6 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2008GL034085
Electron trapping around a magnetic null
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts, USA
Department of Space Physics, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing, China
Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
Space and Atmospheric Physics, Imperial College, London, UK
Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Blindern, Oslo, Norway
Department of Space and Climate Physics, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
CETP, CNRS, Velizy, France
Space Sciences Division, SSTD, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, UK
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China
Institut für Geophysik und Meteorologie, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Toulouse, France
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Toulouse, France
ESTEC, ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Magnetic reconnection is an important process in astrophysical, space and laboratory plasmas. The magnetic null pair structure is theoretically suggested to be a crucial feature of the three-dimensional magnetic reconnection. The physics around the null pair, however, has not been explored in combination with the magnetic field configuration deduced from in situ observations. Here, we report the identification of the configuration around a null pair and simultaneous electron dynamics near one null of the pair, observed by four Cluster spacecraft in the geo-magnetotail. Further, we propose a new scenario of electron dynamics in the null region, suggesting that electrons are temporarily trapped in the central reconnection region including electron diffusion region resulting in an electron density peak, accelerated possibly by parallel electric field and electron pressure gradient, and reflected from the magnetic cusp mirrors leading to the bi-directional energetic electron beams, which excite the observed high frequency electrostatic waves.
Received 22 March 2008; accepted 2 May 2008; published 29 July 2008.
Citation: (2008), Electron trapping around a magnetic null, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L14104, doi:10.1029/2008GL034085.
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