Structure of a Perturbed Magnetic Reconnection Electron Diffusion Region in the Earth's Magnetotail.

We report in situ observations of an electron diffusion region (EDR) and adjacent separatrix region in the Earth's magnetotail. We observe significant magnetic field oscillations near the lower hybrid frequency which propagate perpendicularly to the reconnection plane. We also find that the strong electron-scale gradients close to the EDR exhibit significant oscillations at a similar frequency. Such oscillations are not expected for a crossing of a steady 2D EDR, and can be explained by a complex motion of the reconnection plane induced by current sheet kinking propagating in the out-of-reconnection-plane direction. Thus, all three spatial dimensions have to be taken into account to explain the observed perturbed EDR crossing. These results shed light on the interplay between magnetic reconnection and current sheet drift instabilities in electron-scale current sheets and highlight the need for adopting a 3D description of the EDR, going beyond the two-dimensional and steady-state conception of reconnection.

Electron Heating by Debye-Scale Turbulence in Guide-Field Reconnection.

We report electrostatic Debye-scale turbulence developing within the diffusion region of asymmetric magnetopause reconnection with a moderate guide field using observations by the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. We show that Buneman waves and beam modes cause efficient and fast thermalization of the reconnection electron jet by irreversible phase mixing, during which the jet kinetic energy is transferred into thermal energy. Our results show that the reconnection diffusion region in the presence of a moderate guide field is highly turbulent, and that electrostatic turbulence plays an important role in electron heating.

Instability of Agyrotropic Electron Beams near the Electron Diffusion Region.

During a magnetopause crossing the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft encountered an electron diffusion region (EDR) of asymmetric reconnection. The EDR is characterized by agyrotropic beam and crescent electron distributions perpendicular to the magnetic field. Intense upper-hybrid (UH) waves are found at the boundary between the EDR and magnetosheath inflow region. The UH waves are generated by the agyrotropic electron beams. The UH waves are sufficiently large to contribute to electron diffusion and scattering, and are a potential source of radio emission near the EDR. These results provide observational evidence of wave-particle interactions at an EDR, and suggest that waves play an important role in determining the electron dynamics.

Advanced Methods for Analyzing in-Situ Observations of Magnetic Reconnection.

There is ample evidence for magnetic reconnection in the solar system, but it is a nontrivial task to visualize, to determine the proper approaches and frames to study, and in turn to elucidate the physical processes at work in reconnection regions from in-situ measurements of plasma particles and electromagnetic fields. Here an overview is given of a variety of single- and multi-spacecraft data analysis techniques that are key to revealing the context of in-situ observations of magnetic reconnection in space and for detecting and analyzing the diffusion regions where ions and/or electrons are demagnetized. We focus on recent advances in the era of the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission, which has made electron-scale, multi-point measurements of magnetic reconnection in and around Earth's magnetosphere.

Constraints on the formation and structure of Langmuir eigenmodes in the solar wind.

Localized Langmuir waves are commonly observed in space plasmas and are a potential source of radio waves. Using electric field data from STEREO, it is shown that these localized Langmuir waves are eigenmodes of density wells estimated independently. An analytic model is developed for the eigenmode frequencies. The inferred depths and widths of the density wells typically only allow the zeroth-order Langmuir eigenmode to form, explaining the preponderance of single-peaked waveforms. More complicated waveforms are shown to be consistent with single eigenmode solutions of more complicated density profiles. The inferred depth of the density well increases with Langmuir wave intensity, consistent with the ponderomotive force but not wave packet collapse.

Direct observations of anomalous resistivity and diffusion in collisionless plasma.

Coulomb collisions provide plasma resistivity and diffusion but in many low-density astrophysical plasmas such collisions between particles are extremely rare. Scattering of particles by electromagnetic waves can lower the plasma conductivity. Such anomalous resistivity due to wave-particle interactions could be crucial to many processes, including magnetic reconnection. It has been suggested that waves provide both diffusion and resistivity, which can support the reconnection electric field, but this requires direct observation to confirm. Here, we directly quantify anomalous resistivity, viscosity, and cross-field electron diffusion associated with lower hybrid waves using measurements from the four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft. We show that anomalous resistivity is approximately balanced by anomalous viscosity, and thus the waves do not contribute to the reconnection electric field. However, the waves do produce an anomalous electron drift and diffusion across the current layer associated with magnetic reconnection. This leads to relaxation of density gradients at timescales of order the ion cyclotron period, and hence modifies the reconnection process.

Electron Bernstein waves driven by electron crescents near the electron diffusion region.

The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft encounter an electron diffusion region (EDR) of asymmetric magnetic reconnection at Earth's magnetopause. The EDR is characterized by agyrotropic electron velocity distributions on both sides of the neutral line. Various types of plasma waves are produced by the magnetic reconnection in and near the EDR. Here we report large-amplitude electron Bernstein waves (EBWs) at the electron-scale boundary of the Hall current reversal. The finite gyroradius effect of the outflow electrons generates the crescent-shaped agyrotropic electron distributions, which drive the EBWs. The EBWs propagate toward the central EDR. The amplitude of the EBWs is sufficiently large to thermalize and diffuse electrons around the EDR. The EBWs contribute to the cross-field diffusion of the electron-scale boundary of the Hall current reversal near the EDR.

Magnetic Reconnection Inside a Flux Rope Induced by Kelvin-Helmholtz Vortices.

On 5 May 2017, MMS observed a crater-type flux rope on the dawnside tailward magnetopause with fluctuations. The boundary-normal analysis shows that the fluctuations can be attributed to nonlinear Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) waves. Reconnection signatures such as flow reversals and Joule dissipation were identified at the leading and trailing edges of the flux rope. In particular, strong northward electron jets observed at the trailing edge indicated midlatitude reconnection associated with the 3-D structure of the KH vortex. The scale size of the flux rope, together with reconnection signatures, strongly supports the interpretation that the flux rope was generated locally by KH vortex-induced reconnection. The center of the flux rope also displayed signatures of guide-field reconnection (out-of-plane electron jets, parallel electron heating, and Joule dissipation). These signatures indicate that an interface between two interlinked flux tubes was undergoing interaction, causing a local magnetic depression, resulting in an M-shaped crater flux rope, as supported by reconstruction.

Wave Phenomena and Beam-Plasma Interactions at the Magnetopause Reconnection Region.

This paper reports on Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of whistler mode chorus and higher-frequency electrostatic waves near and within a reconnection diffusion region on 23 November 2016. The diffusion region is bounded by crescent-shaped electron distributions and associated dissipation just upstream of the X-line and by magnetic field-aligned currents and electric fields leading to dissipation near the electron stagnation point. Measurements were made southward of the X-line as determined by southward directed ion and electron jets. We show that electrostatic wave generation is due to magnetosheath electron beams formed by the electron jets as they interact with a cold background plasma and more energetic population of magnetospheric electrons. On the magnetosphere side of the X-line the electron beams are accompanied by a strong perpendicular electron temperature anisotropy, which is shown to be the source of an observed rising-tone whistler mode chorus event. We show that the apex of the chorus event and the onset of electrostatic waves coincide with the opening of magnetic field lines at the electron stagnation point.

Pediatric emergency room visits for nontraumatic dental disease.

PURPOSE: This study described the incidence and predisposing, enabling, and need factors of outpatients in a pediatric ER who sought care for nontraumatic preventable dental disease and analyzed treatment rendered by attending physicians and associated hospital charges for treatment. METHODS: Chart review of outpatients discharged from the ER of a children's hospital during 1996-97, using ICD-9 diagnostic codes for dental caries, periapical abscess and facial cellulitis yielded the data for this investigation. RESULTS: During 1996-97, 149 patients made 159 ER visits. The most common diagnoses were ICD-9 codes 521.0 for dental caries (48%) and 522.5 for periapical abscess (47%). Medicaid recipients used the ER at an intermediate level between patients with no payor source and those with private insurance. Almost one-half of the accounts changed status during the billing process, with the majority being entered as private pay upon admission, but changing to bad debt or charity after the registration records were processed and collection was attempted. Most patients were treated empirically by the ER physicians according to their presenting signs/symptoms. CONCLUSION: This study confirmed that parents utilize the ER as their child's primary dental care source.

Splenic abscess: two case reports.

Two cases of splenic abscess are presented. Both patients presented similarly with fever and abdominal pain. Diagnostic and treatment approaches to splenic abscess are discussed.