In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts

Filomena Catapano; Alessandro Retinò; Gaetano Zimbardo; Alexandra Alexandrova; Ian J. Cohen; Drew L. Turner; Olivier Le Contel; Giulia Cozzani; Silvia Perri; Antonella Greco; Hugo Breuillard; Dominique Delcourt; Laurent Mirioni; Yuri Khotyaintsev; Andris Vaivads; Barbara L. Giles; Barry H. Mauk; Stephen A. Fuselier; Roy B. Torbert; Christopher T. Russell; Per A. Lindqvist; Robert E. Ergun; Thomas Moore; James L. Burch

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abce5a

In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts

Filomena Catapano
, Alessandro Retinò
, Gaetano Zimbardo
, Alexandra Alexandrova
, Ian J. Cohen
, Drew L. Turner
, Olivier Le Contel
, Giulia Cozzani
, Silvia Perri
, Antonella Greco
, Hugo Breuillard
, Dominique Delcourt
, Laurent Mirioni
, Yuri Khotyaintsev
, Andris Vaivads
, Barbara L. Giles
, Barry H. Mauk
, Stephen A. Fuselier
, Roy B. Torbert
, Christopher T. Russell

Per A. Lindqvist, Robert E. Ergun, Thomas Moore, James L. Burch

University of Calabria
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Swedish Institute of Space Physics
CNRS
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Southwest Research Institute
University of Texas
University of New Hampshire Durham
University of California, Los Angeles
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
University of Colorado Boulder

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Processes driven by unsteady reconnection can efficiently accelerate particles in many astrophysical plasmas. An example is the reconnection jet fronts in an outflow region. We present evidence of suprathermal ion acceleration between two consecutive reconnection jet fronts observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the terrestrial magnetotail. An earthward propagating jet is approached by a second faster jet. Between the jets, the thermal ions are mostly perpendicular to magnetic field, are trapped, and are gradually accelerated in the parallel direction up to 150 keV. Observations suggest that ions are predominantly accelerated by a Fermi-like mechanism in the contracting magnetic bottle formed between the two jet fronts. The ion acceleration mechanism is presumably efficient in other environments where jet fronts produced by variable rates of reconnection are common and where the interaction of multiple jet fronts can also develop a turbulent environment, e.g., in stellar and solar eruptions.

Original language	English
Article number	73
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	908
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abce5a
Publication status	Published - 10 Feb 2021

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Catapano, F., Retinò, A., Zimbardo, G., Alexandrova, A., Cohen, I. J., Turner, D. L., Le Contel, O., Cozzani, G., Perri, S., Greco, A., Breuillard, H., Delcourt, D., Mirioni, L., Khotyaintsev, Y., Vaivads, A., Giles, B. L., Mauk, B. H., Fuselier, S. A., Torbert, R. B., ... Burch, J. L. (2021). In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts. Astrophysical Journal, 908(1), Article 73. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abce5a

@article{72adba98cdb04a9399069afa68f159de,

title = "In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts",

abstract = "Processes driven by unsteady reconnection can efficiently accelerate particles in many astrophysical plasmas. An example is the reconnection jet fronts in an outflow region. We present evidence of suprathermal ion acceleration between two consecutive reconnection jet fronts observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the terrestrial magnetotail. An earthward propagating jet is approached by a second faster jet. Between the jets, the thermal ions are mostly perpendicular to magnetic field, are trapped, and are gradually accelerated in the parallel direction up to 150 keV. Observations suggest that ions are predominantly accelerated by a Fermi-like mechanism in the contracting magnetic bottle formed between the two jet fronts. The ion acceleration mechanism is presumably efficient in other environments where jet fronts produced by variable rates of reconnection are common and where the interaction of multiple jet fronts can also develop a turbulent environment, e.g., in stellar and solar eruptions.",

author = "Filomena Catapano and Alessandro Retin{\`o} and Gaetano Zimbardo and Alexandra Alexandrova and Cohen, \{Ian J.\} and Turner, \{Drew L.\} and \{Le Contel\}, Olivier and Giulia Cozzani and Silvia Perri and Antonella Greco and Hugo Breuillard and Dominique Delcourt and Laurent Mirioni and Yuri Khotyaintsev and Andris Vaivads and Giles, \{Barbara L.\} and Mauk, \{Barry H.\} and Fuselier, \{Stephen A.\} and Torbert, \{Roy B.\} and Russell, \{Christopher T.\} and Lindqvist, \{Per A.\} and Ergun, \{Robert E.\} and Thomas Moore and Burch, \{James L.\}",

year = "2021",

month = feb,

day = "10",

doi = "10.3847/1538-4357/abce5a",

language = "English",

volume = "908",

journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

issn = "0004-637X",

number = "1",

}

Catapano, F, Retinò, A, Zimbardo, G, Alexandrova, A, Cohen, IJ, Turner, DL, Le Contel, O, Cozzani, G, Perri, S, Greco, A, Breuillard, H, Delcourt, D, Mirioni, L, Khotyaintsev, Y, Vaivads, A, Giles, BL, Mauk, BH, Fuselier, SA, Torbert, RB, Russell, CT, Lindqvist, PA, Ergun, RE, Moore, T & Burch, JL 2021, 'In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts', Astrophysical Journal, vol. 908, no. 1, 73. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abce5a

TY - JOUR

T1 - In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts

AU - Catapano, Filomena

AU - Retinò, Alessandro

AU - Zimbardo, Gaetano

AU - Alexandrova, Alexandra

AU - Cohen, Ian J.

AU - Turner, Drew L.

AU - Le Contel, Olivier

AU - Cozzani, Giulia

AU - Perri, Silvia

AU - Greco, Antonella

AU - Breuillard, Hugo

AU - Delcourt, Dominique

AU - Mirioni, Laurent

AU - Khotyaintsev, Yuri

AU - Vaivads, Andris

AU - Giles, Barbara L.

AU - Mauk, Barry H.

AU - Fuselier, Stephen A.

AU - Torbert, Roy B.

AU - Russell, Christopher T.

AU - Lindqvist, Per A.

AU - Ergun, Robert E.

AU - Moore, Thomas

AU - Burch, James L.

PY - 2021/2/10

Y1 - 2021/2/10

N2 - Processes driven by unsteady reconnection can efficiently accelerate particles in many astrophysical plasmas. An example is the reconnection jet fronts in an outflow region. We present evidence of suprathermal ion acceleration between two consecutive reconnection jet fronts observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the terrestrial magnetotail. An earthward propagating jet is approached by a second faster jet. Between the jets, the thermal ions are mostly perpendicular to magnetic field, are trapped, and are gradually accelerated in the parallel direction up to 150 keV. Observations suggest that ions are predominantly accelerated by a Fermi-like mechanism in the contracting magnetic bottle formed between the two jet fronts. The ion acceleration mechanism is presumably efficient in other environments where jet fronts produced by variable rates of reconnection are common and where the interaction of multiple jet fronts can also develop a turbulent environment, e.g., in stellar and solar eruptions.

AB - Processes driven by unsteady reconnection can efficiently accelerate particles in many astrophysical plasmas. An example is the reconnection jet fronts in an outflow region. We present evidence of suprathermal ion acceleration between two consecutive reconnection jet fronts observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission in the terrestrial magnetotail. An earthward propagating jet is approached by a second faster jet. Between the jets, the thermal ions are mostly perpendicular to magnetic field, are trapped, and are gradually accelerated in the parallel direction up to 150 keV. Observations suggest that ions are predominantly accelerated by a Fermi-like mechanism in the contracting magnetic bottle formed between the two jet fronts. The ion acceleration mechanism is presumably efficient in other environments where jet fronts produced by variable rates of reconnection are common and where the interaction of multiple jet fronts can also develop a turbulent environment, e.g., in stellar and solar eruptions.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85101512751

U2 - 10.3847/1538-4357/abce5a

DO - 10.3847/1538-4357/abce5a

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85101512751

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 908

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 1

M1 - 73

ER -

In Situ Evidence of Ion Acceleration between Consecutive Reconnection Jet Fronts

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