title: Kinetic structure of the electron diffusion region in antiparallel magnetic reconnection.
abstract: Strong electron pressure anisotropy has been observed upstream of electron diffusion regions during reconnection in Earth's magnetotail and kinetic simulations. For collisionless antiparallel reconnection, we find that the anisotropy drives the electron current in the electron diffusion region, and that this current is insensitive to the reconnection electric field. Reconstruction of the electron distribution function within this region at enhanced resolutions reveals its highly structured nature and the mechanism by which the pressure anisotropy sets the structure of the region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, and Plasma Science and Fusion Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA. jegedal@psfc.mit.edu
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Egedal
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Le
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Daughton
authors.forename: L-J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D004058:Diffusion; D004583:Electrons; D007700:Kinetics; D008280:Magnetics; D008962:Models, Theoretical