Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agusmsh52a..02c&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SH52A-02
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
7509 Corona, 7519 Flares, 7526 Magnetic Reconnection (2723, 7835)
Scientific paper
The mechanism triggering the onset of fast magnetic reconnection, the driver of solar eruptions, has long been elusive. We have found that for a wide range of resistivities, both the collisional ("Sweet-Parker", exceedingly slow) and collisionless ("Hall", fast) reconnection solutions are independently valid for identical values of the resistivity, a condition known as bistability. However, when the Sweet-Parker layer becomes thinner than the ion skin depth, the Hall effect controls the dynamics and the Sweet-Parker solution ceases to exist. A catastrophic transition to Hall reconnection ensues, increasing the rate of reconnection by many orders of magnitude. In the corona, the transition is spontaneous because the current sheet naturally becomes thinner during Sweet-Parker reconnection as stronger magnetic fields are convected toward the X-line. We present numerical simulations confirming the model and show that predictions of onset conditions for solar flares are consistent with observations.
Cassak Paul A.
Drake James F.
Shay Michael A.
No associations
LandOfFree
Spontaneous Catastrophic Onset of Fast Magnetic Reconnection and Solar Flares does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Spontaneous Catastrophic Onset of Fast Magnetic Reconnection and Solar Flares, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Spontaneous Catastrophic Onset of Fast Magnetic Reconnection and Solar Flares will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1026996