Abstract
Magnetic reconnection is a universal phenomenon where energy is efficiently converted from the magnetic field to charged particles as a result of global magnetic topology changes during which earlier separated plasma regions become magnetically connected. While the reconnection affects large volumes in space most of the topology changes and of the energization occur within small localized regions. Regions of special importance are the X-region and the separatrix region. The understanding of the microphysics of these regions is crucial for the overall understanding of the reconnection. The Earth magnetosphere is the best environment where the details of these regions can be studied in situ. We summarize their main properties and discuss recent spacecraft observations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
André, M., Vaivads, A., Buchert, S. C., Fazakerley, A. N., and Lahiff, A.: 2004, Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, 3803.
Aschwanden, M. J.: 2004, Physics of the Solar Corona: An Introduction, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Biskamp, D.: 2000, Magnetic Reconnection in Plasmas, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Borg, A. L., Oieroset, M., Phan, T. D., Mozer, F. S., Pedersen, A., Mouikis, C.: 2005, Geophys. Res. Lett. 32, L19105.
Cattell, C., Dombeck, J., Wygant, J., Drake, J. F., Swisdak, M., Goldstein, M. L.: 2005, J. Geophys. Res. 110, 1211–1226.
Drake, J. F., Shay, M. A., Thongthai, W., and Swisdak, M.: 2005, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94(9), 095001.
Hesse, M., Kuznetsova, M., and Birn, J.: 2004, Phys. Plasmas 11, 5387.
Hoshino, M., Hiraide, K., and Mukai, T.: 2001, Earth Planets Space 53, 627–634.
Matsumoto, H., Deng, X. H., Kojima, H., and Anderson, R. R.: 2003, Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 59–1.
Mozer, F. S., Bale, S. D., McFadden, J. P., and Torbert, R. B.: 2005, Phys. Rev. Lett., submitted for publication.
Mozer, F. S., Bale, S. D., and Phan, T. D.: 2002, Phys. Rev. Lett. 89(1), 015002.
Mozer, F. S., Bale, S. D., Phan, T. D., and Osborne, J. A.: 2003, Phys. Rev. Lett. 91(24), 245002.
Nagai, T., Shinohara, I., Fujimoto, M., Hoshino, M., Saito, Y., Machida, S.: 2001, J. Geophys. Res. 106, 25929–25950.
Parker, E. N.: 1957, J. Geophys. Res. 62, 509–520.
Petschek, H. E.: 1964, The Physics of Solar Flares, pp. 425.
Phan, T. D., Escoubet, C. P., Rezeau, L., Treumann, R. A., Vaivads, A., Paschmann, G.: 2005, Space Sci. Rev. 118, 367–424.
Priest, E., and Forbes, T.: 2000, Magnetic Reconnection, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Pritchett, P. L.: 2001, J. Geophys. Res., 25961–25978.
Pritchett, P. L., and Coroniti, F. V.: 2004, J. Geophys. Res. 109, 1220.
Retinò, A., Vaivads, A., André, M., Sahraoui, F., Khotyaintsev, Y., Pickett, J.: 2006, Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L06101.
Rogers, B. N., Denton, R. E., and Drake, J. F.: 2003, J. Geophys. Res. 108, 6–1.
Scholer, M.: 2000, Adv. Space Res. 26, 405–414.
Shay, M. A., Drake, J. F., Rogers, B. N., and Denton, R. E.: 2001, J. Geophys. Res., 3759–3772.
Sonnerup, U. O.: 1979, Solar System Plasma Physics, Vol. 3, North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 45–108.
Sweet, P. A.: 1958, IAU Symposium 6: Electromagnetic Phenomena in Cosmical Physics, pp. 123.
Tajima, T., and Shibata, K. (eds.): 1997, Plasma Astrophysics, Addison-Wesley, Reading.
Vaivads, A., Khotyaintsev, Y., André, M., Retinò, A., Buchert, S. C., Rogers, B. N.: 2004, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93(10), 105001.
Walker, R., Terasawa, T., Christon, S. P., Angelopoulos, V., Hoshino, M., Lennartsson, W.: 1999, Space Sci. Rev. 88, 285–353.
Wygant, J. R., Cattell, C. A., Lysak, R., Song, Y., Dombeck, J., McFadden, J.: 2005, J. Geophys. Res. 110, 9206.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vaivads, A., Retinò, A. & André, M. Microphysics of Magnetic Reconnection. Space Sci Rev 122, 19–27 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-006-7019-3
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-006-7019-3