Fundamental Properties of Magnetic Reconnection in Large-scale Current Sheets

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

This research addresses outstanding questions in reconnection physics by using observations of the heliospheric current sheet. The Principal Investigator will use solar wind data from the Wind, Cluster, and Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) spacecraft to study reconnection events in situ. In addition to exploring basic plasma physics, the proposal objectives are to determine the dependence of reconnection on the magnitude of the guide field (the magnetic shear across the current sheet), whether such reconnection is steady or intermittent, and which parameters are important for controlling the reconnection rate.