Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 235002 (2005) [4 pages]Catastrophe Model for Fast Magnetic Reconnection Onset
See accompanying Physics Focus A catastrophe model for the onset of fast magnetic reconnection is presented that suggests why plasma systems with magnetic free energy remain apparently stable for long times and then suddenly release their energy. For a given set of plasma parameters there are generally two stable reconnection solutions: a slow (Sweet-Parker) solution and a fast (Alfvénic) Hall reconnection solution. Below a critical resistivity the slow solution disappears and fast reconnection dominates. Scaling arguments predicting the two solutions and the critical resistivity are confirmed with two-fluid simulations. © 2005 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.235002
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.235002
PACS:
52.35.Vd, 52.65.−y
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