Crater Structure Behind Reconnection Front

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection is the physical process that converts the energy from the fields to the plasmas in space, astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. The Reconnection front (RF) is the structure generated in the reconnection outflow region and participates in the energy release budget. Here, we first report a novel crater structure of magnetic field behind the RF, which is well supported by both the in-situ observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission and kinetic particle-in-cell simulations. The theoretical explanations from the simulations suggests that the formation of the crater structure is possibly due to that high-speed outflow electron jet from inner electron diffusion region constantly strikes the RF. From another perspective, the crater structure is the continuous impact of the electron jet. Our results can establish a new understanding of the RF and energy conversion during magnetic reconnection.