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Autori principali: Chowdhry, Simran, Loureiro, Nuno F.
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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Accesso online:https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13081
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author Chowdhry, Simran
Loureiro, Nuno F.
author_facet Chowdhry, Simran
Loureiro, Nuno F.
contents We present a simple, analytically solvable MHD model of current sheet formation through X-point collapse under optically thin radiative cooling. Our results show that cooling accelerates the collapse of the X-point along the inflows, but strong cooling can arrest or even reverse the current sheet elongation in the outflow direction. Hence, we detail a modification to the radiatively-cooled Sweet-Parker model developed by Uzdensky & McKinney (2011) to allow for varying current sheet length. The steady-state solution shows that when radiative cooling dominates compressional heating, the current sheet length is shorter than the system size, with an increased reconnection rate compared to the classical Sweet-Parker rate. The model and subsequent results lay out the groundwork for a more complete theoretical understanding of magnetic reconnection in regimes dominated by optically thin radiative cooling.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_13081
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Current sheet formation under radiative cooling
Chowdhry, Simran
Loureiro, Nuno F.
Plasma Physics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
We present a simple, analytically solvable MHD model of current sheet formation through X-point collapse under optically thin radiative cooling. Our results show that cooling accelerates the collapse of the X-point along the inflows, but strong cooling can arrest or even reverse the current sheet elongation in the outflow direction. Hence, we detail a modification to the radiatively-cooled Sweet-Parker model developed by Uzdensky & McKinney (2011) to allow for varying current sheet length. The steady-state solution shows that when radiative cooling dominates compressional heating, the current sheet length is shorter than the system size, with an increased reconnection rate compared to the classical Sweet-Parker rate. The model and subsequent results lay out the groundwork for a more complete theoretical understanding of magnetic reconnection in regimes dominated by optically thin radiative cooling.
title Current sheet formation under radiative cooling
topic Plasma Physics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.13081