Onset of fast magnetic reconnection.
We demonstrate the existence of a new steady-state magnetic reconnection configuration which lies at the boundary of the basins of attraction between the Sweet-Parker and Hall reconnection configurations. The solution is linearly unstable to small perturbations and its identification required a novel iterative numerical technique. The eigenmodes of the unstable solution are localized near the X line, suggesting that the onset of fast reconnection in a weakly collisional plasma is initiated locally at the X line as opposed to remotely at the boundaries.
Cassak
P A
PA
Department of Physics and Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
Drake
J F
JF
Shay
M A
MA
Eckhardt
B
B