THE LOWER-HYBRID DRIFT INSTABILITY IS OFTEN EXCITED AROUND RECONNECTION REGIONS AND HAS BEEN SHOWN TO CAUSE TURBULENCE AND ENHANCE PARTICLE TRANSPORT. RECENT MMS OBSERVATIONS HAVE SHOWN THAT THE LHDI CAN BE FOUND INSIDE ELECTRON DIFFUSION REGIONS IN THE MAGNETOTAIL LEADING TO THE GENERATION OF VORTICES AND AGYROTROPIC ELECTRON DISTRIBUTIONS. WE PROPOSE TO PERFORM FULLY KINETIC PARTICLE-IN-CELL SIMULATIONS USING THE CODE VPIC TO STUDY TWO AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL SYMMETRIC GUIDE-FIELD RECONNECTION. WE WILL FOCUS ON ELECTRON ACCELERATION AND THE EFFECTS OF THE LHDI ON RECONNECTION DYNAMICS AND COMPARE THE RESULTS TO THE MMS OBSERVATIONS. ADDITIONALLY WE WILL PERFORM SIMULATIONS OF THE LHDI ALONE IN ORDER TO ISOLATE ITS EFFECTS ON ELECTRON ACCELERATION.

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators