Related papers: Rapid Change of Field Line Connectivity and Reconn…
Fast magnetic reconnection is defined by the topology of the magnetic field lines changing on a timescale that is approximately an order of magnitude longer than the topology-conserving ideal-evolution timescale. Fast reconnection is an…
Regardless of how small non-ideal effects may be, phenomena associated with changes in magnetic field line connections are frequently observed to occur on an Alfv\'enic time scale. Since it is mathematically impossible for magnetic field…
We investigate the evolution of field line helicity for magnetic fields that connect two boundaries without null points, with emphasis on localized finite-B magnetic reconnection. Total (relative) magnetic helicity is already recognized as…
We consider stochastic reconnection in a magnetized, partially ionized medium. Stochastic reconnection is a generic effect, due to field line wandering, in which the speed of reconnection is determined by the ability of ejected plasma to…
Reconnection is the process by which magnetic fields in a conducting fluid change their topology. This process is essential for understanding a wide variety of astrophysical processes, including stellar and galactic dynamos and…
Magnetic field-lines in astrophysical plasmas are expected to be frozen-in at scales larger than the ion gyroradius. The rapid reconnection of magnetic flux structures with dimensions vastly larger than the gyroradius requires a breakdown…
Astrophysical fluids are generically turbulent, which means that frozen-in magnetic fields are, at least, weakly stochastic. Therefore realistic studies of astrophysical magnetic reconnection should include the effects of stochastic…
Mathematics demonstrates that an ideally evolving magnetic field has an exponentially increasing sensitivity to non-ideal effects for all but truly exceptional evolutions. On a time scale that depends only logarithmically on the magnitude…
We discuss the model of magnetic field reconnection in the presence of turbulence introduced by us approximately ten years ago. The model does not require any plasma effects to be involved in order to make the reconnection fast. In fact, it…
A prediction of the steady-state reconnection electric field in asymmetric reconnection is obtained by maximizing the reconnection rate as a function of the opening angle made by the upstream magnetic field on the weak magnetic field…
(abridged) Magnetic reconnection is the topological reconfiguration of the magnetic field in a plasma, accompanied by the violent release of energy and particle acceleration. Reconnection is as ubiquitous as plasmas themselves, with solar…
We present a solvable scenario for 3D reconnection in a sheared magnetic field. We consider a localized external force that is applied slowly to a flux tube and then maintained, generating an Alfv\'{e}nic perturbation that spreads along the…
The efficiency of energy conversion during magnetic reconnection is related to the reconnection rate. While the stable reconnection rate has been studied extensively, its growth between the time of reconnection onset and the peak…
Magnetic field lines are quantum objects carrying one quantum $\Phi_0=2\pi\hbar/e$ of magnetic flux and have finite radius $\lambda_m$. Here we argue that they possess a very specific dynamical interaction. Parallel field lines reject each…
Previous work has introduced scale-split energy density \psi for a given vector field B in order to quantify the field stochasticity S(t). Application to turbulent magnetic fields leads to the prediction that tangling magnetic field by…
Magnetic reconnection in an antiparallel uniform Harris current sheet equilibrium, which is initially perturbed by a region of enhanced resistivity limited in all three dimensions, is investigated through compressible magnetohydrodynamic…
Null and X-points are not themselves directly important to magnetic reconnection because distinguishable field lines do not approach them closely. Even in a collision-free plasma, magnetic field lines that approach each other on a scale…
Electron and proton acceleration in three-dimensional electric and magnetic fields is studied through test particle simulations. The fields are obtained by a three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulation of magnetic reconnection in slab…
Magnetic reconnection, or the ability of the magnetic field lines that are frozen in plasma to change their topology, is a fundamental problem of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We briefly examine the problem starting with the well-known…
We consider the phenomenon of magnetic reconnection, namely a change in the topology of magnetic lines, for sufficiently regular solutions of the three-dimensional periodic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations. We provide examples where…