Nonlinear development of magnetic reconnection in the tearing-type and the Petschek-type field geometries

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Abstract
Distinct hydromagnetic characteristics associated with the tearing-type and the Petschek-type field geometries are numerically studied. Both the tearing-type and the Petschek-type reconnections are initiated by local resistive disturbance and develop from an initially antiparallel magnetic field. In the tearing-type field geometry the current-sheet plasma, accelerated at X-type neutral points through reconnection, cannot be ejected away from the system but is confined in the resulting magnetic islands. It is found that the nonlinear saturation oscillates as a result of the interaction between the confined plasma and the surrounding magnetic field; the period of the oscillation is approximately given by the time required for an Alfven wave to cross one wavelength. On the other hand, in the Petschek-type field geometry the plasma can freely be ejected away from the system, so that the antiparallel field is allowed to collapse into the X-type neutral point.