Extended theory of the Taylor problem in the plasmoid-unstable regime

Abstract

A fundamental problem of forced magnetic reconnection has been solved taking into account the plasmoid instability of thin reconnecting current sheets. In this problem, the reconnection is driven by a small amplitude boundary perturbation in a tearing-stable slab plasma equilibrium. It is shown that the evolution of the magnetic reconnection process depends on the external source perturbation and the microscopic plasma parameters. Small perturbations lead to a slow nonlinear Rutherford evolution, whereas larger perturbations can lead to either a stable Sweet-Parker-like phase or a plasmoid phase. An expression for the threshold perturbation amplitude required to trigger the plasmoid phase is derived, as well as an analytical expression for the reconnection rate in the plasmoid-dominated regime. Visco-resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations complement the analytical calculations. The plasmoid formation plays a crucial role in allowing fast reconnection in a magnetohydrodynamical plasma, and the presented results suggest that it may occur and have profound consequences even if the plasma is tearing-stable.

Accepted for publication in Physics of Plasmas

References in corpus (5)

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• The tearing mode instability of thin current sheets: the transition to fast reconnection in the presence of viscosity
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• Comparison of magnetic diffusion and reconnection in ideal and resistive relativistic magnetohydrodynamics, ideal magnetodynamics, and resistive force-free electrodynamics
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• Do plasmoids induce fast magnetic reconnection in well-resolved current sheets in 2D MHD simulations?
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• Unified Framework of Forced Magnetic Reconnection and Alfven Resonance