Reconnection In Plasmas Research Articles

About ?reconnection? in a collisionless plasma

Two kinds of mechanisms have been advertised for magnetic field line reconnection in plasmas: a slow diffusive process, proposed by Parker and Sweet, related to the Tearing mode and field line stochasticity; an Alfenic flow, with a fast merging rate, the so-called Petschek theory. We consider both mechanisms successively and emphasize the yet unsolved theoretical difficulties.

Magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas: Bruno Coppi, James W-K. Mark, and Linda Sugiyama. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 and Giuseppe Bertin. Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy

Magnetic reconnection in collisionless plasmas: Bruno Coppi, James W-K. Mark, and Linda Sugiyama. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 and Giuseppe Bertin. Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy

Reconnecting Modes in Collisonless Plasmas

Processes involving magnetic-field reconnection in collisionless plasmas and relying on the effects of electron Landau resonance for their excitation are found to require the consideration of the self-consistent electric potentials and the systematic analysis of four consecutive asymptotic regions. The new effects found are relevant to both laboratory and space plasmas.