Jack White (IRF): Electron Energisation by Magnetic Reconnection (Four Month Seminar)

Wednesday 10 Apr 2024, 11:00 → 12:00 Europe/Stockholm

Title: Electron Energisation by Magnetic Reconnection
Speaker: Jack White 
Affiliation: IRF Uppsala
Time: Wednesday 10th April 2024, 11:00 to 12:00
Location: 90101 Å

Abstract: Magnetic reconnection is an important physical process that drives some of the most extreme particle acceleration events in space, leading to solar flares, coronal mass ejections, as well as the terrestrial aurora. One of the outstanding questions is what plasma conditions and combination of mechanisms cause the most extreme electron acceleration events involved in magnetic reconnection. To take the first step towards answering this question, we will use in-situ measurements from NASA’s Magnetic Multiscale (MMS) mission to probe the Earth’s magnetosphere. Using multi-spacecraft measurements and analytical techniques such as Liouville mapping, we aim to find and quantify strong electric fields, aligned with the Earth’s magnetic field, that initiate extreme electron energisation.