Brief Communication: The double layer in the separatrix region during magnetic reconnection

Abstract

With two-dimensional (2-D) particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations we investigate the evolution of the double layer (DL) driven by magnetic reconnection. Our results show that an electron beam can be generated in the separatrix region as magnetic reconnection proceeds. This electron beam could trigger the ion-acoustic instability; as a result, a DL accompanied with electron holes (EHs) can be found during the nonlinear evolution stage of this instability. The spatial size of the DL is about 10 Debye lengths. This DL propagates along the magnetic field at a velocity of about the ion-acoustic speed, which is consistent with the observation results.