A numerical simulation of the reconnection layer in 2-D resistive mhd

Mar, 2000
33 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Plasmas 7 (2000) 4018
e-Print:

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Abstract: (arXiv)
In this paper we present a two-dimensional, time dependent, numerical simulation of a reconnection current layer in incompressible resistive magnetohydrodynamics with uniform resistivity in the limit of very large Lundquist numbers. We use realistic boundary conditions derived consistently from the outside magnetic field, and we also take into account the effect of the back pressure from flow into the the separatrix region. We find that within a few Alfven times the system evolves from an arbitrary initial state to a steady state consistent with the Sweet--Parker model, even if the initial state is Petschek-like.