Abstract
The 3D instability of spontaneous fast magnetic reconnection process is studied with magnetohydrodynamic simulations, where 2D model of the spontaneous fast magnetic reconnection process is destabilized in three dimensions. In this 3D instability, the spontaneous fast magnetic reconnection process is intermittently and randomly caused in 3D. In this paper, as a typical event study, a single 3D fast magnetic reconnection process often observed in the 3D instability is studied in detail. As a remarkable feature, it is reported that, when the 3D fast magnetic reconnection process starts, plasma inflows along the magnetic neutral line are observed, which are driven by plasma static pressure gradient along the neutral line. The plasma inflow speed reaches about 15 in the upstream field region. The unmagnetized inflow tends to prevent the 3D reconnection process; nevertheless, the 3D reconnection process is intermittently maintained. Such high-speed plasma inflows along the neutral line may be observed as dawn–dusk flows in space satellite observations of magnetotail’s bursty bulk flows.
Highlights
Fast magnetic reconnection process provides a physical mechanism by which magnetic energy is explosively converted into plasma kinetic and thermal energies, resulting in the generation of plasma jets
This 3D instability is fully nonlinear because the z-directional size of the 3D fast reconnection region is much smaller than the z-directional wave length 2Lz of the initial 3D resistive disturbance [Eq (3)]
The growth of the instability is not linear. It suggests that the 3D fast reconnection process strongly localized in the sheet current direction can be established even in a 1D current sheet without any distinct external disturbance strongly localized in the sheet current direction
Summary
Fast magnetic reconnection process provides a physical mechanism by which magnetic energy is explosively converted into plasma kinetic and thermal energies, resulting in the generation of plasma jets. The most important finding is that, when a single event of the 3D fast reconnection process starts, the uniformity of the plasma static pressure along the neutral line is destroyed and the reconnection region is strongly localized in the sheet current direction.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
