Pressure Tensor Elements Breaking the Frozen-in Law during Reconnection in Earth’s Magnetotail
Published in Physical Review Letters, 2019
Recommended citation: J. Egedal, J. Ng, A. Le, W, Daughton, B. A. Wetherton, J. Dorelli, D. Gershman, and A. Rager. Pressure tensor elements breaking the frozen-in law during reconnection in Earth's magnetotail. Physical Review Letters. 2019. https://journals.aps.org/prl/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.225101
Aided by fully kinetic simulations, spacecraft observations of magnetic reconnection in Earth’s magnetotail are analyzed. The structure of the electron diffusion region is in quantitative agreement with the numerical model. Of special interest, the spacecraft data reveal how reconnection is mediated by off-diagonal stress in the electron pressure tensor breaking the frozen-in law of the electron fluid.