Dissipation and reconnection in boundary-driven reduced magnetohydrodynamics

Journal Article · Wed Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2014 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/797/1/63· OSTI ID:22370066

Wan, Minping; Rappazzo, Antonio Franco; Matthaeus, William H. ^[1]; Servidio, Sergio ^[2]; Oughton, Sean ^[3]

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1. Bartol Research Institute and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716 (United States)
2. Dipartimento di Fisica, Università della Calabria, I-87036 Cosenza (Italy)
3. Department of Mathematics, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240 (New Zealand)

We study the statistics of coherent current sheets, the population of X-type critical points, and reconnection rates in a coronal loop geometry, via numerical simulations of reduced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. Current sheets and sites of reconnection (magnetic X-points) are identified in two-dimensional planes of the three-dimensional simulation domain. The geometry of the identified current sheets—including area, length, and width—and the magnetic dissipation occurring in the current sheets are statistically characterized. We also examine the role of magnetic reconnection, by computing the reconnection rates at the identified X-points and investigating their association with current sheets.

• OSTI ID: 22370066
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 797, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
STATISTICS
SUN
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
TURBULENCE
TWO-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS