The Nonlinear Dynamics of Magnetic Reconnection and Applications to Solar Eruptions

Details The Nonlinear Dynamics of Magnetic Reconnection and Applications to Solar Eruptions The Nonlinear Dynamics of Magnetic Reconnection and Applications to Solar Eruptions

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsm23c..01c&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SM23C-01

Physics

7513 Coronal Mass Ejections (2101), 7519 Flares, 7526 Magnetic Reconnection (2723, 7835), 7835 Magnetic Reconnection (2723, 7526), 7839 Nonlinear Phenomena (4400, 6944)

Scientific paper

It is widely accepted that magnetic reconnection plays a fundamental role in releasing magnetic energy in solar eruptions, but what initiates an eruption remains an unresolved problem. We present a model for the catastrophic onset of fast magnetic reconnection in weakly collisional plasmas, which potentially explains why the energy release begins abruptly. In particular, we show that magnetic reconnection is bistable: both the slow (Sweet-Parker) and fast (Hall) modes of reconnection independently exist for a wide range of parameters. However, the Sweet-Parker solution disappears catastrophically at a critical condition, leading to the onset of Hall reconnection and the accompanying increase in the rate of magnetic energy release by many orders of magnitude. We present theory and simulations confirming the model. We propose that the disappearance of reconnection solutions is caused by saddle-node bifurcations controlling the nonlinear dynamics of reconnection, and derive a simple nonlinear model that displays this dynamical behavior [1]. The model predicts the existence of an unstable reconnection solution, which we demonstrate numerically. The unstable solution reveals that the physics controlling the onset of Hall reconnection occurs locally near the X-line as opposed to remotely at the boundaries [2]. We discuss potential mechanisms for onset and show that the model is consistent with results from laboratory experiments and solar and stellar flare observations. [1] P. A. Cassak, Doctoral Thesis, 2006; [2] P. A. Cassak et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., 98, 215001, 2007.

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