Physics of current sheets in planetary magnetospheres and solar wind: plasma kinetics, magnetic reconnection, and particle acceleration
Physics of current sheets in planetary magnetospheres and solar wind: plasma kinetics, magnetic reconnection, and particle acceleration
Session ID#: 281025
Session Description:
Current sheets (CSs) are fundamental structures in space plasmas, serving as primary sites for magnetic reconnection, energy dissipation, and particle acceleration. They govern dynamics across diverse environments, from solar wind discontinuities and turbulence to magnetopause boundaries controlling solar wind entry, and magnetotail CSs mediating storms and energetic particle transport in planetary magnetospheres. Recent advances in remote sensing of magnetopause reconnection, in situ characterization of solar wind CSs, and renewed observational focus on magnetotail dynamics at lunar distances present new challenges and opportunities for theory and simulation. CS stability and evolution depend critically on configuration, which varies across these environments and sets the conditions for reconnection onset and particle energization. This session integrates observations, theory, and simulations to advance understanding of how CS configurations govern reconnection dynamics and particle acceleration across planetary magnetospheres and the solar wind.
Co-Sponsor(s):
- SH - SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics
Index Terms:
2164 Solar wind plasma [INTERPLANETARY PHYSICS]
2731 Magnetosphere: outer [MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS]
7811 Discontinuities [SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS]
7835 Magnetic reconnection [SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS]
Primary Convener: Xin An, University of California Los Angeles, Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Conveners: Harry Arnold, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, Anna Tenerani, The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Physics, Austin, United States and Ivan Vasko, University of Texas at Dallas, Department of Physics, Richardson, TX, United States
Student/Early Career Convener: Sergei Kamaletdinov, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, Los Angeles, United States
See more of: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics