147 research outputs found
Magnetic Reconnection with Asymmetry in the Outflow Direction
Magnetic reconnection with asymmetry in the outflow direction occurs in the
Earth's magnetotail, coronal mass ejections, flux cancellation events,
astrophysical disks, spheromak merging experiments, and elsewhere in nature and
the laboratory. A control volume analysis is performed for the case of steady
antiparallel magnetic reconnection with asymmetric downstream pressure, which
is used to derive scaling relations for the outflow velocity from each side of
the current sheet and the reconnection rate. Simple relationships for outflow
velocity are presented for the incompressible case and the case of symmetric
downstream pressure but asymmetric downstream density. Asymmetry alone is not
found to greatly affect the reconnection rate. The flow stagnation point and
magnetic field null do not coincide in a steady state unless the pressure
gradient is negligible at the flow stagnation point.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to JGR. Any comments will be
appreciate
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