Authors: Amy K. Murphy (University of New Hampshire), Nada Al-Haddad (University of New Hampshire), Noé Lugaz (University of New Hampshire)

There have been many methods used to identify the boundaries of small flux ropes (and magnetic clouds). However, different lists rarely agree on where the boundaries of a given small flux rope should be. One method that was discussed in the early magnetic cloud literature was to look for current sheets and/or discontinuities in the magnetic field and use that location to help define the boundary.

In this work, we explore the question: Is the presence of current sheets and discontinuities a useful means of defining or confirming small flux rope boundaries? We use existing lists of small flux ropes observed in the Parker Solar Probe data. Examining each small flux rope, we determine the percentage of the events on the lists that have current sheets and/or discontinuities at or near one or more of the boundaries given on the lists. We then look to see if any of the current sheets or discontinuities align with other boundary indicators such as a drop in the plasma beta value.