Continuous Transition from Fast Magnetic Reconnection to Slow Reconnection and Change of the Reconnection System Structure

© 2007. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
, , Citation Shin-ya Nitta 2007 ApJ 663 610 DOI 10.1086/518104

0004-637X/663/1/610

Abstract

This paper analytically investigates a series of two-dimensional MHD reconnection solutions over a large range of magnetic Reynolds number (Re). A new series of solutions explains a continuous transition from Petschek-like fast reconnection to a much slower regime with a longer current sheet, in which the inflow region is obtained from a Grad-Shafranov analysis and the outflow region from a shock-tube approximation. A Petschek-like solution (with a single X-point) forms for a sufficiently small Re. As Re gradually increases, the solution shifts to an X-O-X solution with an O-point between two X-points. When Re increases further, the island collapses to a new longer current sheet with Y-points at its ends. As Re increases, the reconnection rate slows and the reducible fraction of the initial magnetic energy of the system decreases. These reconnection structures expand self-similarly with time.

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10.1086/518104