资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Flux transfer events (FTEs), as flux ropes (FRs), are considered key agents for solar wind energy to enter the terrestrial magnetosphere. Recent observations identify entangled flux tubes that collide and pull against each other. Reconnection occurs to disentangle and produce a new pair of flux ropes with different connectivity. In this paper, we examine the entanglement interface and how such an entanglement process evolves in time by comparing 17 entanglements observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. The B_y‐dominated interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) distribution of the 17 events agrees with previous findings. We have identified three evolutionary stages characterized by the magnetic field and pressure enhancement. Our study confirms the flux rope nature of these events and explains how a disparate pair of ropes is formed from two entangled flux tubes, each initially connected to a different hemisphere of the magnetosphere.