Comparative Statistical Study of Magnetotail Turbulent Reconnection in MMS Observations and Particle-In-Cell Simulations

Magnetic reconnection is the physical process that accelerates and heats particles using the magnetic field energy released from rearranged field lines. Recent data from the Magnetosphere Multiscale (MMS) mission in the turbulent magnetotail suggests that, contrary to the standard laminar picture of reconnection, energy exchange between fields and particles is a fundamentally bi-directional process. To investigate this, we examine 3D and 2D Particle-In-Cell (PIC) simulations of turbulent reconnection for varying guide field strengths. We find a similar bi-directional energy exchange for ions and electrons in both the 3D and 2D simulations. Furthermore, we calculate dissipation ratios comparing perpendicular to parallel and ion to electron quantities for magnetic structures in these simulations. We also quantify the contributions of electron energization mechanisms such as parallel electric fields energization, Fermi energization, betatron heating, and polarization drift. Our preliminary simulation results show promising agreement with satellite data.

*This research was performed with support by NASA through Grant Number 80HQTR21T0105 and by US DOE Contract Number DE‐AC0209CH11466.