Laboratory measurement of whistler wave pulse from impulsive reconnection*

We present measurements of coherent whistler wave pulses generated by isolated, impulsive magnetic reconnection events on the Caltech jet experiment. The wave pulses are measured with a new multicluster Bdot-probe located more than 45 cm away from the reconnection location. The whistler character of these pulses is confirmed by measurements of the background parameters, the wave polarization, and the wave dispersion. The results provide evidence that whistler waves are a consequence rather than a cause of collisionless reconnection.