Abstract
Magnetic reconnection is a crucial physical process in laboratory and astrophysical plasmas. Plasma waves are believed to provide the dissipation mechanism in magnetic reconnection. In this paper we analyze the properties of low-frequency waves in a magnetotail reconnection diffusion region with a small guide field and high β. Using the κ-filtering method on the magnetic field data measured by Cluster spacecraft, we found that low-frequency waves in the diffusion region were highly oblique propagating mode. We compared the measured dispersion relation with theoretical ones calculated using the linear (hot) two-fluid and Vlasov-Maxwell theory. It is found that the observed waves in the diffusion region (with high plasma β) follow the dispersion relation of the Alfvn-Whistler wave mode. Comparisons with previous simulations and observational results are also discussed.
| Original language | English |
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| Article number | A12211 |
| Journal | Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics |
| Volume | 115 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2010 |