Dissipation in Turbulent plasma due to reconnection in thin current sheets
Publication date: 14 July 2007
Authors: Sundkvist, D. et al.
Journal: Phys. Rev. Lett.
Volume: 99
Issue: 2
Page: 025004
Year: 2007
Copyright: American Physical Society
We present in situ measurements in a space plasma showing that thin current sheets the size of an ion inertial length exist and are abundant in strong and intermittent plasma turbulence. Many of these current sheets exhibit the microphysical signatures of reconnection. The spatial scale where intermittency occurs corresponds to the observed structures. The reconnecting current sheets represent a type of dissipation mechanism, with observed dissipation rates comparable to or even dominating over collisionless damping rates of waves at ion inertial length scales (x100), and can have far reaching implications for small-scale dissipation in all turbulent plasmas.
Link to publication