On the relativistic magnetic reconnection

Reconnection of the magnetic lines of force is considered in case the magnetic energy exceeds the rest energy of the matter. It is shown that the classical Sweet–Parker and Petschek models are generalized straightforwardly to this case and the reconnection rate may be estimated by substituting the A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2005-03, Vol.358 (1), p.113-119
Main Author: Lyubarsky, Y. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
magnetic fields
MHD
shock waves
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Summary:Reconnection of the magnetic lines of force is considered in case the magnetic energy exceeds the rest energy of the matter. It is shown that the classical Sweet–Parker and Petschek models are generalized straightforwardly to this case and the reconnection rate may be estimated by substituting the Alfven velocity in the classical formulae with the speed of light. The outflow velocity in the Sweet–Parker configuration is mildly relativistic. In the Petschek configuration, the outflow velocity is ultrarelativistic whereas the angle between the slow shocks is very small. As a result of the strong compression, the plasma outflow in the Petschek configuration may become strongly magnetized if the reconnecting fields are not exactly antiparallel.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.08767.x