Three-dimensional oscillatory magnetic reconnection
Abstract
Here we detail the dynamic evolution of localised reconnection regions about three-dimensional (3D) magnetic null points by using numerical simulation. We demonstrate for the first time that reconnection triggered by the localised collapse of a 3D null point due to an external MHD wave involves a self-generated oscillation, whereby the current sheet and outflow jets undergo a reconnection reversal process during which back-pressure formation at the jet heads acts to prise open the collapsed field before overshooting the equilibrium into an opposite-polarity configuration. The discovery that reconnection at fully 3D nulls can proceed naturally in a time-dependent and periodic fashion is suggestive that oscillatory reconnection mechanisms may play a role in explaining periodicity in astrophysical phenomena associated with magnetic reconnection, such as the observed quasi-periodicity of solar and stellar flare emission. Furthermore, we find a consequence of oscillatory reconnection is the generation of a plethora of freely-propagating MHD waves which escape the vicinity of the reconnection region
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1706.09662,
title = {Three-dimensional oscillatory magnetic reconnection},
author = {J. O. Thurgood and D. I. Pontin and J. A. McLaughlin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1706.09662},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
Accepted in ApJ, will be published gold open access, refer to main journal for animated content