Turbulence and Reconnection: an analysis of turbulence generated by instabilities in reconnection outflows

We have recently reported on the tendency of reconnection outflows to become unstable [1] and produce secondary reconnection sites [2]. These instabilities are complex and cover a large spectrum of scales leading to what is in essence turbulence. But is it? And what properties does is have? We answer the following questions:

What are the properties of the fluctuations found in 3D fully kinetic simulations of reconnection where the system size modeled is large enough to observe the reconnection region as well as its interaction with the ambient plasma What is the energy exchange in the reconnection region but also in the reconnection outflow and in the region of interaction of the outflow with the ambient What are the ion and electron distribution functions observed in these regions How do the result change if the primary reconnection site becomes itself turbulent forming many secondary islands (as is for example the case of the plasmoid instability) These simulation results are compared with observations from Cluster and from MMS. [1] Divin, A., Khotyaintsev, Y. V., Vaivads, A., André, M., Markidis, S., & Lapenta, G. (2015). Evolution of the lower hybrid drift instability at reconnection jet front. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 120(4), 2675-2690. [2] Lapenta, G., Markidis, S., Goldman, M. V., & Newman, D. L. (2015). Secondary reconnection sites in reconnection-generated flux ropes and reconnection fronts. Nature Physics, 11(8), 690-695.