Suen, Gabriel Ho Hin;
(2025)
Magnetic reconnection in the solar wind: modelling and analysis of Solar Orbiter observations in the inner heliosphere.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
I use a combination of magnetic field and particle data from the Solar Orbiter mission, as well as mathematical modelling tools, to study the role magnetic reconnection in the solar wind plays in the inner heliosphere. Our current understanding of the structure of reconnection outflows in the solar wind is based on the bifurcated reconnection current sheet model, where the reconnection outflow region is bounded by a pair of current sheets. For the first part of this thesis, I adapt existing current sheet stress balance models for reconnection in the Earth’s magnetotail to develop a novel theoretical framework to describe the structure of reconnection outflows in the solar wind. I apply my new stress balance framework to a simple model of a symmetric bifurcated reconnection outflow, using it to interpret some of the key observed properties of counterstreaming proton beams in solar wind reconnection outflows. I then test my model on five examples of bifurcated reconnection outflows observed by Solar Orbiter with properties that closely satisfy the symmetry assumptions of our model. I determine the properties of the reconnection inflow and outflow beams and reconstruct the distribution function that characterises the beam population in both the inflow and outflow regions. I then validate my model by comparing the reconstructed distribution functions with the observations. Finally, I investigate the role reconnection plays in the erosion of magnetic switchbacks. Using Solar Orbiter in-situ data, I identify three examples of reconnecting switchbacks in the solar wind and perform a timing analysis to estimate the timescales over which these structures are fully eroded by reconnection. My results show that this process occurs over timescales ranging from a few minutes to a few hours, suggesting that reconnection is a fast and efficient process mechanism for eroding individual switchbacks.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Magnetic reconnection in the solar wind: modelling and analysis of Solar Orbiter observations in the inner heliosphere |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10213941 |
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