Observations of lower hybrid drift waves during magnetic reconnection in laboratory and space plasmas

We present observations of quasi-electrostatic lower hybrid drift waves (ES-LHDW) in the electron diffusion region during reconnection with a high guide field [1,2]. In both laboratory and space, ES-LHDW is capable of generating significant anomalous resistivity by producing fluctuations in density and the out-of-plane component of the electric field. The observed small phase difference between two fluctuations is consistent with the results from linear models [1,3]. With the use of quasilinear analysis, we verify that ES-LHDW can generate anomalous electron heating exceeding the classical Ohmic heating in laboratory plasma. We also perform statistical analysis on LHDW and electron temperature with data from the Magnetic Reconnection EXperiment (MRX) and Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS). In both cases, there is positive correlation between the electron temperature increase and the amplitude of LHDW. These results support that LHDW can enhance electron heating in the diffusion region.