Bursty magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause triggered by high-speed jets

High speed jets, regions of enhanced dynamic pressure and flow velocity, are found in the Earth’s magnetosheath downstream of the quasi-parallel shock. Spacecraft observations have shown that the impact of jets on the magnetopause can lead to the triggering of magnetic reconnection. We perform a three-dimensional hybrid simulation to study the magnetosheath and magnetopause under turbulent conditions using a quasi-radial southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). In contrast to quasi-steady reconnection with a strong southward IMF, we show that after the impact of a jet on the magnetopause, the magnetopause moves inwards, the current sheet is compressed and intensified and signatures of local magnetic reconnection are observed, showing similarities to spacecraft measurements