Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2016
Abstract
Supported by a kinetic simulation, we derive an exclusion energy parameter $\cal{E}_X$ providing a lower kinetic energy bound for an electron to cross from one inflow region to the other during magnetic reconnection. As by a Maxwell Demon, only high energy electrons are permitted to cross the inner reconnection region, setting the electron distribution function observed along the low density side separatrix during asymmetric reconnection. The analytic model accounts for the two distinct flavors of crescent-shaped electron distributions observed by spacecraft in a thin boundary layer along the low density separatrix. Egedal, J; Le, A; Daughton, W; Wetherton, B; Cassak, P A; Chen, L -J; Lavraud, B; Trobert, R B; Dorelli, J; Gershman, D J; Avanov, L A
Digital Commons Citation
Egedal, J.; Le, A.; Daughton, W.; and Cassak, P. A., "Spacecraft Observations And Analytic Theory Of Crescent-Shaped Electron Distributions In Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection" (2016). Faculty & Staff Scholarship. 1024.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/faculty_publications/1024
Source Citation
Egedal, J., Le, A., Daughton, W., Cassak, P. A. (2016). Spacecraft Observations And Analytic Theory Of Crescent-Shaped Electron Distributions In Asymmetric Magnetic Reconnection. Physical Review Letters, 117(18). http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.185101