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Three-dimensional oscillatory magnetic reconnection
- Publication Year :
- 2017
-
Abstract
- Here we detail the dynamic evolution of localised reconnection regions about three-dimensional (3D) magnetic null points by using numerical simulation. We demonstrate for the first time that reconnection triggered by the localised collapse of a 3D null point due to an external MHD wave involves a self-generated oscillation, whereby the current sheet and outflow jets undergo a reconnection reversal process during which back-pressure formation at the jet heads acts to prise open the collapsed field before overshooting the equilibrium into an opposite-polarity configuration. The discovery that reconnection at fully 3D nulls can proceed naturally in a time-dependent and periodic fashion is suggestive that oscillatory reconnection mechanisms may play a role in explaining periodicity in astrophysical phenomena associated with magnetic reconnection, such as the observed quasi-periodicity of solar and stellar flare emission. Furthermore, we find a consequence of oscillatory reconnection is the generation of a plethora of freely-propagating MHD waves which escape the vicinity of the reconnection region<br />Accepted in ApJ, will be published gold open access, refer to main journal for animated content
- Subjects :
- Plasma Physics (physics.plasm-ph)
Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Physics - Space Physics
Physics::Plasma Physics
Physics::Space Physics
Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
FOS: Physical sciences
Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Physics - Fluid Dynamics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR)
Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
Physics - Plasma Physics
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....f3f3ffb44cfb5ebb9f9bdf3d47d384fe