Nonstationary Petschek reconnection in relativistic magnetohydrodynamics.

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Scientific paper

The Petschek model of magnetic field line reconnection is extended to the nonstationary relativistic case. The solution is determined by (a) the initial parameters of the current sheet and (b) the electric field strength along the reconnection line as a function of time. It is shown that during the reconnection the current sheet decays into slow shock waves on which the plasma is accelerated up to the relativistic Alfven velocity, compressed and strongly heated, whereas the magnetic field strength decreases strongly. The magnetic energy is thus converted into kinetic and internal energy of the plasma; the conversion is particularly efficient for strong magnetic fields and cold plasmas. A result is that clusters of accelerated relativistic plasma (the so-called FR regions) move out of the reconnection line and the bounded by running slow shock waves. Along the current layer the FR regions transform the whole magnetic field in the reconnected force tube and accelerate all the plasma in it. Various conditions of reconnection are possible: a quasistationary mode of reconnection which is similar to that considered by Petschek; a pulsed mode when the FR regions detach from the reconnection line and move along the current layer as independent objects etc. The FR regions carry along the current layer the reconnected magnetic flux, electric field, mass, momentum and energy. Consequently, reconnection may be regarded as a transfer process characteristic of a highly conductive magnetized medium with current layers. Efficient interaction between regions with different magnetic fluxes can occur via reconnection. Some astrophysical applications of relativistic reconnection and particularly ejections and flares of solar type are discussed.

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