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In this paper, by taking advantage of a two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation model, we study the structure of the out-of-plane magnetic field (Hall magnetic field) during asymmetric magnetic reconnection without a guide field, and the associated in-plane current system is also analyzed. The evolution of asymmetric reconnection has two stages. At the first stage, the electrons move toward the X line along the separatrix in the magnetosheath side, and depart from the X line along the separatrix in the magnetosphere side. Another electron flow toward the X line exists above the separatrix in the magnetosphere side. The resulted in-plane current system, which is mainly determined by electron dynamics, generates the quadrupolar structure of the Hall magnetic field, where the two quadrants in the magnetosheath side are much stronger than those in the magnetosphere side. At the second stage, besides these electron flows, an additional electron flow away from the X line is formed along the magnetic field below the separatrix in the magnetosheath side. A hexapolar structure of the Hall magnetic field is then generated by such a current system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, magnetic reconnection has been realized in high-energy-density laser-produced plasmas. Plasma bubbles with self-generated magnetic fields are created by focusing laser beams to small-scale spots on a foil. The bubbles expand into each other, which may then drive magnetic reconnection. The reconnection experiment in laser-produced plasmas has also been conducted at Shenguang-II (SG-II) laser facility, and the existence of a plasmoid was identified in the experiment [Dong et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 215001 (2012)]. In this paper, by performing two-dimensional (2-D) particle-in-cell simulations, we investigate such a process of magnetic reconnection based on the experiment on SG-II facility, and a possible explanation for the formation of the plasmoid is proposed. The results show that before magnetic reconnection occurs, the bubbles squeeze strongly each other and a very thin current sheet is formed. The current sheet is unstable to the tearing mode instability, and we can then observe the formation of plasmoid(s) in such a multiple X-lines reconnection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A test particle code is employed to explore the dynamics of charged particles and perpendicular diffusion in turbulent magnetic field, where a three-dimensional (3D) isotropic turbulence model is used in this paper. The obtained perpendicular diffusion at different particle energies is compared with that of the nonlinear guiding center (NLGC) theory. It is found that the NLGC theory is consistent with test particle simulations when the particle energies are small. However, the difference between the NLGC theory and test particle simulations tends to increase when the particle energy is sufficiently large, and the threshold is related to the turbulence bend-over length. In the NLGC theory, the gyrocenter of a charged particle is assumed to follow the magnetic field line. Therefore, when the particle has sufficiently large energy, its gyroradius will be larger than the turbulence bend-over length. Then the particle can cross the magnetic field lines, and the difference between the test particle simulations and NLGC theory occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) particle-in-cell simulations are performed to investigate the structures of the out-of-plane magnetic field in magnetic island, which is produced during anti-parallel collisionless magnetic reconnection. Regular structures with alternate positive and negative values of the out-of-plane magnetic field along the x direction are formed in magnetic island. The generation mechanism of such structures is also proposed in this paper, which is due to the Weibel instability excited by the temperature anisotropy in magnetic island. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We perform 2.5-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations to investigate the nonlinear evolution of the lower hybrid drift instability (LHDI) in Harris current sheet. Due to the drift motion of electrons in the electric field of the excited low hybrid drift (LHD) waves, the electrons accumulate at the outer layer, and therefore there is net positive charge at the inner edge of the current sheet. This redistribution of charge can create an electrostatic field along the z direction, which then modifies the motions of the electrons along the y direction by E × B drift. This effect strongly changes the structure of the current sheet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron acceleration by the inductive electric field near the X point in magnetic reconnection is an important generation mechanism for energetic electrons. Particle simulations have revealed that most of energetic electrons reside in the magnetic field line pileup region, and a depletion of energetic electrons can be found near the centre of the diffusion region [Phys. Plasmas, 13 (2006) 012309]. We report direct measurement of energetic electron in and around the ion diffusion region in near-Earth tail by the cluster, and our observations confirm the above predictions: a depletion of the high-energy electron fluxes is detected near the centre of the diffusion region. At the same time, the plasma temperature has a similar profile in the diffusion region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using the recently developed hybrid finite difference (HFD) code, we solve the two-dimensional bounce-averaged Fokker–Planck equation with cross-pitch-angle-energy diffusion to evaluate the electron phase space density (PSD) evolution driven by multiple wave–particle interactions during storms. Numerical results show that PSDs of electrons can be depleted by two orders of magnitude at lower pitch-angles during the main phase primarily due to pitch-angle scattering by hiss and electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves, and then enhance by two orders of magnitude compared with the prestorm state during the recovery phase primarily due to acceleration by chorus wave. Furthermore, the effects of the cross terms and various electromagnetic waves are also been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]