Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Scaling of the magnetic reconnection rate with symmetric shear flow

Journal Article · · Physics of Plasmas
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3609771· OSTI ID:22046917
 [1];  [2]
  1. Department of Physics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506 (United States)
  2. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Fairbanks, Alaska 99775 (United States)
The scaling of the reconnection rate during (fast) Hall magnetic reconnection in the presence of an oppositely directed bulk shear flow parallel to the reconnecting magnetic field is studied using two-dimensional numerical simulations of Hall reconnection with two different codes. Previous studies noted that the reconnection rate falls with increasing flow speed and shuts off entirely for super-Alfvenic flow, but no quantitative expression for the reconnection rate in sub-Alfvenic shear flows is known. An expression for the scaling of the reconnection rate is presented.
OSTI ID:
22046917
Journal Information:
Physics of Plasmas, Journal Name: Physics of Plasmas Journal Issue: 7 Vol. 18; ISSN PHPAEN; ISSN 1070-664X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English