Identification of the Electron Diffusion Region during Magnetic Reconnection in a Laboratory Plasma
Authors: Yang Ren, Masaaki Yamada, Hantao Ji, Stefan Gerhardt, and Russell Kulsrud
Abstract:
We report the first identification of the electron diffusion region, where demagnetized electrons are accelerated to super-Alfvenic speed, in a reconnecting laboratory plasma. The electron diffusion region is determined from measurements of the out-of-plane quadrupole magnetic field in the neutral sheet in the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment. The width of the electron diffusion region scales with the electron skin depth (∼ 5.5-7.5c=ωpi) and the peak electron outflow velocity scales with the electron Alfven velocity (∼ 0.12 - 0.16VeA), independent of ion mass.
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Submitted to: Physical Review Letters June 2008
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