The Role of Magnetic Reconnection-Associated Processes in Local Particle Acceleration in the Solar Wind
Abstract
Several theoretical, numerical, and observational analyses have been concentrated on studying the acceleration of charged particles in a turbulent plasma via magnetic islands or magnetic flux ropes. Particles propagating through a 'sea of magnetic islands' experience island contraction, island merging, and the induced electric field generated by islands merging, resulting in particle energization. We study the acceleration of charged particles in the vicinity of the reconnecting heliospheric current sheet via magnetic islands using the Zank et al. (2014) model and observations made by the ACE spacecraft. The Alfven Mach number, the diffusion time scale, the contraction time scale, and the particle speed, all of which are associated with the sea of magnetic islands, determine the form of the charged particle intensity profiles and particle spectrum. We find good agreement between the theoretical and observational results.
- Publication:
-
Solar Heliospheric and INterplanetary Environment (SHINE 2018)
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018shin.confE..63A