Investigations of the orientation of the reconnection X-line via numerical simulations

Details Investigations of the orientation of the reconnection X-line via numerical simulations Investigations of the orientation of the reconnection X-line via numerical simulations

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm24b..08s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM24B-08

Physics

[2723] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetic Reconnection, [2753] Magnetospheric Physics / Numerical Modeling

Scientific paper

The existence of magnetic reconnection of magnetic fields of arbitrary orientation is under long debate. Sonnerup [1] argued that reconnection will occur in such a way that the components of the two magnetic fields along the X-line are equal, and the currents in the reconnection plane will vanish. One consequence of this argument is that for a given ratio of the field strengths in the plasmas there is a shear angle between the fields below which reconnection does not occur. Swisdak and Drake [2] proposed that magnetic reconnection will exist because according to their model, the X-line will orient so as to maximize the Alfvenic jet speed along the outflow direction. We use 2D-Hall MHD simulations to show the existence of magnetic reconnection with an asymmetric guide field, and 3D simulations to test the Swisdak and Drake [2] relation of the orientation of the reconnection X-line. We find that while initially many linearly growing modes are excited, at late times the modes in one direction dominate. The orientation of the rational surfaces along which the strong currents stream are in good agreement with the Swisdak and Drake [2007] prediction. [1] Sonnerup, B. U. O., Magnetopause Reconnection Rate, J. Geophys. Res., 79, 10, 1546-1549, 1974. [2] Swisdak, M., and J. F. Drake, Orientation of the reconnection X-line, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L11106, 2007.

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