Electron heating during magnetic reconnection: A simulation scaling study

Electron bulk heating during magnetic reconnection with symmetric inflow conditions is examined using kinetic particle-in-cell simulations. Inflowing plasma parameters are varied over a wide range of conditions, and the increase in electron temperature is measured in the exhaust well downstream of the x-line. The degree of electron heating is well correlated with the inflowing Alfven speed cAr based on the reconnecting magnetic field through the relation ΔTe=0.033 mi cAr2, where ΔTe is the increase in electron temperature. For the range of simulations performed, the heating shows almost no correlation with inflow total temperature Ttot=Ti+Te or plasma β. An out-of-plane (guide) magnetic field of similar magnitude to the reconnecting field does not affect the total heating, but it does quench perpendicular heating, with almost all heating being in the parallel direction. These results are qualitatively consistent with a recent statistical survey of electron heating in the dayside magnetopause (Phan et al.,...