# Ion kinetics of plasma interchange reconnection in the lower solar corona Source: [Ion kinetics of plasma interchange reconnection in the lower solar corona]() Collection index: [llms.txt]() Data updated: 2025-10-25T05:18:58.105Z Authors: Vladimir Krasnoselskikh, Arnaud Zaslavsky, Anton Artemyev, Clara Froment, Thierry Dudok de Wit, Nour E. Raouafi, Oleksiy V. Agapitov, Stuart D. Bale, Jaye L. Verniero (8) \_\_INSTITUTION\_9\_\_ LPC2E, CNRS/University of Orleans/CNES, France, (2) SSL, UCB, USA, (3) LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France, (4) University of California, Los Angeles, USA, (5) ISSI, Bern, Switzerland, (6) Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, USA, (7) Physics Department, University of California, Berkeley, USA, (8) NASA Goddard Space Flight Center: Greenbelt, MD, USA) Published: 2023-10-18T16:37:17.000Z ## Abstract The exploration of the inner heliosphere by Parker Solar Probe has revealed a highly structured solar wind with ubiquitous deflections from the Parker spiral, known as switchbacks. Interchange reconnection (IR) may play an important role in generating these switchbacks by forming unstable particle distributions that generate wave activity that in turn may evolve to such structures. IR occurs in very low beta plasmas and in the presence of strong guiding fields. Although IR is unlikely to release enough energy to provide an important contribution to the heating and acceleration of the solar wind, it affects the way the solar wind is connected to its sources, connecting open field lines to regions of closed fields. This "switching on" provides a mechanism by which plasma near coronal hole boundaries can mix with that trapped inside the closed loops. This mixing can lead to a new energy balance. It may significantly change the characteristics of the solar wind because this plasma is already pre-heated and can potentially have quite different density and particle distributions. It not only replenishes the solar wind, but also affects the electric field, which in turn affects the energy balance. This interpenetration is manifested by the formation of a bimodal ion distribution, with a core and a beam-like population. Such distributions are indeed frequently observed by the Parker Solar Probe. Here we provide a first step towards assessing the role of such processes in accelerating and heating the solar wind. ## Recorded benchmark results A research result applies to its stated dataset, split, metric and evaluation configuration. Compare like-for-like settings, preserve the metric's unit and direction, and distinguish paper-reported results from independent reproduction. The best result recorded here is not a claim of exhaustive, current global coverage. ## Original sources and implementation [Original paper]() [PDF]()