The Onset of Magnetic Reconnection in Dynamically Evolving Current Sheets

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Leake, James, Daldorff, Lars, Klimchuk, James
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Leake, James
Daldorff, Lars
Klimchuk, James
author_facet Leake, James
Daldorff, Lars
Klimchuk, James
contents We present the first results of three-dimensional (3D) numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the onset of magnetic reconnection via the tearing instability in dynamically thinning current sheets in the solar corona. In all our simulations, the onset of the non-linear tearing instability, which leads to the break-up of the thinning current sheet, does not occur until after the instability growth time becomes faster than the dynamic thinning time. Furthermore, as in previous 3D MHD simulations of static current sheets in the corona, for some parameters, the amount of magnetic shear is a fundamental switch-on parameter, which has consequences for coronal heating models. These results open up the possibility of using observable quantities of coronal current sheets to predict when they will break-up and release magnetic energy to power various energetic phenomena and/or heat the atmosphere.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_04486
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The Onset of Magnetic Reconnection in Dynamically Evolving Current Sheets
Leake, James
Daldorff, Lars
Klimchuk, James
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Mathematical Physics
Plasma Physics
We present the first results of three-dimensional (3D) numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the onset of magnetic reconnection via the tearing instability in dynamically thinning current sheets in the solar corona. In all our simulations, the onset of the non-linear tearing instability, which leads to the break-up of the thinning current sheet, does not occur until after the instability growth time becomes faster than the dynamic thinning time. Furthermore, as in previous 3D MHD simulations of static current sheets in the corona, for some parameters, the amount of magnetic shear is a fundamental switch-on parameter, which has consequences for coronal heating models. These results open up the possibility of using observable quantities of coronal current sheets to predict when they will break-up and release magnetic energy to power various energetic phenomena and/or heat the atmosphere.
title The Onset of Magnetic Reconnection in Dynamically Evolving Current Sheets
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Mathematical Physics
Plasma Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.04486