Magnetic reconnection with radiative cooling. I. Optically thin regime
- Center for Integrated Plasma Studies, Physics Department, UCB-390, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-4060 (United States)
Magnetic reconnection processes in many high-energy-density astrophysical and laboratory plasma systems are significantly affected by radiation; hence traditional, nonradiative reconnection models are not applicable to these systems. Motivated by this observation, the present paper develops a Sweet-Parker-like theory of resistive magnetic reconnection with strong radiative cooling. It is found that, in the case with zero guide field, intense radiative cooling leads to a strong plasma compression, resulting in a higher reconnection rate. The compression ratio and the reconnection layer temperature are determined by the balance between ohmic heating and radiative cooling. The lower temperature in a radiatively cooled layer leads to a higher Spitzer resistivity and, hence, a higher reconnection rate. Several specific radiative processes (bremsstrahlung, cyclotron, and inverse Compton) in the optically thin regime are considered for both the zero- and strong-guide-field cases, and concrete expressions for the reconnection parameters are derived, along with the applicability conditions.
- OSTI ID:
- 21537628
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 18; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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