SPACE AND COSMIC RAY PHYSICS SEMINAR

University of Maryland
Atlantic Building, Room 2400 4:30 PM Monday, December 3, 2018
Coffee, Tea & Snacks 4:15-4:30 PM

Marc Swisdak
University of Maryland

Magnetic Reconnection at Earth's Magnetopause: The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission and Kinetic Simulations

The MMS mission is a constellation of four closely spaced spacecraft designed to observe magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetosphere. Its unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution has, for the first time, allowed a close comparison between the predictions from kinetic simulations and reconnection as it occurs in nature. Among the surprises has been the formation and impact of turbulence near the reconnection X-line and the development of strongly localized dissipation. Many of features seen in MMS data can be reproduced by simulations.