Hall effects on dynamic magnetic reconnection at an X-type neutral point
Department of Mathematics, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand e-mail: sts1@math.waikato.ac.nz
Received:
21
October
2005
Accepted:
3
February
2006
Aims.The goal of this paper is the examine the impact of the Hall current effects on magnetic reconnection solutions.
Methods.The problem of perturbing a line-tied current free X-point equilibrium is considered. Computational results are presented which highlight how Hall currents influence the initial reconnection rate and the later asymptotic decay.
Results.Resistive scaling laws are derived
which quantify the decay rates of
perturbations in terms the dimensionless resistivity η of the
plasma, and the ion skin depth 
. Numerical computations
confirm that the solution geometry changes character in the regime 
.
Key words: magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) / Sun: magnetic fields / plasmas
© ESO, 2006