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Magnetic Reconnection

Null point

Nature Physics volume 2, pages 445–446 (2006)Cite this article

The reordering of field lines during magnetic reconnection plays an important part in many astrophysical and terrestrial plasma phenomena. Satellite measurements of a so-called null point during magnetic reconnection should help refine theoretical models of this process.

Magnetic reconnection1,2 — the process by which the lines between two magnetic field domains disconnect and subsequently reorder — is fundamental to the behaviour of space and laboratory plasmas. In tokamak-based fusion plasmas, reconnection occurs as a result of plasma instabilities and hampers magnetic confinement. It influences the dayside dynamics of the Earth's magnetosphere and the magnetic substorms in the magnetotail; it is probably involved in solar flares and mass ejections, and in the formation of astrophysical jets that appear to emanate from the accretion disks of supermassive black holes. In all of these instances, reconnection is expected to be a principal mechanism for accelerating charged particles, and the reconnection rate is believed to determine the timescale over which large-scale events occur. But there are still issues that are not resolved by present theories, especially in three dimensions (3D). This is in part due to difficulties introduced by the complex structure of the field lines around a reconnection event, a situation that is worsened by a lack of experimental or observational data.

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Figure 1: Structure and flow (red) of field lines (blue) during magnetic reconnection in 2D.

References

  1. Priest, E. & Forbes, T. Magnetic Reconnection: MHD Theory and Applications. (Cambridge Univ. Press, New York, 2002).

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  1. Theoretical Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, 87545, New Mexico, USA

    John M. Finn

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  1. John M. Finn
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Finn, J. Null point. Nature Phys 2, 445–446 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys353

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys353

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