Abstract
The present model is proposed to study the effect of thickness of Harris sheet and strength of guide field on the evolution of magnetic islands and generation of turbulence in magnetic reconnection sites. The governing model equation has been derived using EMHD model in the presence of the equilibrium magnetic field, consisting of guide field and shear field in the Harris sheet. We have carried out a numerical simulation of the dynamical equation for magnetopause region parameters. Simulation results reveal that as the thickness of Harris sheet increases, the intensity of evolution of magnetic islands decreases, but with increasing strength of guide field, intensity gradually increases and at later times irregular structures are formed. These structures give the indication of turbulence in magnetic reconnection site. Further, we have calculated power spectrum, which follows power index \({\sim}\,{-}1.5\) in the inertial range.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Nitin Yadav for fruitful discussion. The work was supported by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) under RESPOND program and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India.
The model and results are generated by authors using the parameters reported by Chaston et al. (2008). For the further assistantship, readers can contact Neha Pathak (npsneha90@gmail.com).
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Pathak, N., Uma, R. & Sharma, R.P. Turbulence generation in the magnetopause on account of magnetic islands. Astrophys Space Sci 363, 240 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-018-3459-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10509-018-3459-y