Three-dimensional reconnection between two colliding magnetized plasmas

Journal Article · Mon Apr 08 00:00:00 EST 1985 · Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.54.1502· OSTI ID:5819371

Sato, T

Numerical simulation of a three-dimensional interaction between colliding high-..beta.. and low-..beta.. plasmas, notably, the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere, shows that reconnection occurs along a line on the contact surface for theta>90/sup 0/ and pointwise for theta<90/sup 0/, where theta is the angle between the colliding field vectors; accordingly, the flux transport is very efficient for theta>90/sup 0/. An interesting finding is that reconnection is driven by nonlinearly generated diamagnetic currents for almost all field angles theta.

• Research Organization: Institute for Fusion Theory, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima 730, Japan
• OSTI ID: 5819371
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States), Vol. 54:14
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COLLISIONAL PLASMA
MAGNETIC FLUX
HIGH-BETA PLASMA
COUPLING
LOW-BETA PLASMA
DIAMAGNETISM
MAGNETOSPHERE
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
SIMULATION
SOLAR WIND
THEORETICAL DATA
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
DATA
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
INFORMATION
MAGNETISM
MATHEMATICS
NUMERICAL DATA
PLASMA
SOLAR ACTIVITY
640203* - Atmospheric Physics- Magnetospheric Phenomena- (-1987)