Related papers: Example of exponentially enhanced magnetic reconne…
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…
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…
The operation of ITER will require reliable simulations in order to avoid major damage to the device from disruptions. Disruptions are the sudden breakup of magnetic surfaces across the plasma volume -- a fast magnetic reconnection. This…
Plasmoid theory uses two-coordinate models to explain fast magnetic reconnection, which occurs on an Alfv\'enic, not a resistive time scale, in plasmas that are evolving in the near-ideal limit. The primary application has been to…
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…
Magnetic reconnection may be the fundamental process allowing energy stored in magnetic fields to be released abruptly, solar flares and coronal mass ejection (CME) being archetypal natural plasma examples. Magnetic reconnection is much too…
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…
Astrophysical plasmas have the remarkable ability to preserve magnetic topology, which inevitably gives rise to the accumulation of magnetic energy within stressed regions including current sheets. This stored energy is often released…
The traditional paradigm for magnetic field lines changing connections ignores magnetic field line chaos and requires an extremely large current density, $j_{max}\propto R_m$, flowing in thin sheets of thickness $1/R_m$, where $R_m$ is the…
This paper investigates Magnetic Reynolds number dependence of the ``self-similar evolution model'' (Nitta et al. 2001) of fast magnetic reconnection. I focused my attention on the flow structure inside and around the reconnection outflow,…
Magnetic reconnection, the rearrangement of magnetic field topology, is a fundamental physical process in magnetized plasma systems all over the universe1,2. Its process is difficult to be directly observed. Coronal structures, such as…
Multiwavelength observations of the propagating disturbances (PDs), discovered by Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), are analyzed to determine its driving mechanism and physical nature. Two magnetic…
Fast reconnection in magnetically dominated plasmas is widely invoked in models of dissipation in pulsar winds, gamma-ray flares in the Crab nebula, and to explain the radio nanoshots of pulsars. When current sheets evolve reaching a…
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…
Magnetic reconnection, a plasma process converting magnetic energy to particle kinetic energy, is often invoked to explain magnetic energy releases powering high-energy flares in astrophysical sources including pulsar wind nebulae and black…
Magnetic reconnection in the partially ionized solar chromosphere is studied in 2.5-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations including radiative cooling and ambipolar diffusion. A Harris current sheet with and without a guide field is…
Evolving magnetic fields are frequently embedded in plasmas that are turbulent. When the primary interest is in effects that are on a large scale compared to that of the turbulence, it is desirable to average over the turbulence to obtain…
Magnetic reconnection is best known from observations of the Sun where it causes solar flares. Observations estimate the reconnection rate a small, but non-negligible fraction of the Alfv\'en speed, so-called fast reconnection. Until…
A fundamental problem of forced magnetic reconnection has been solved taking into account the plasmoid instability of thin reconnecting current sheets. In this problem, the reconnection is driven by a small amplitude boundary perturbation…
Magnetic field embedded in a perfectly conducting fluid preserves its topology for all time. Although ionized astrophysical objects, like stars and galactic disks, are almost perfectly conducting, they show indications of changes in…