Hysteresis and the onset of fast magnetic reconnection
Abstract
The transition between resistive (slow) and Hall-mediated (fast) magnetic reconnection with varying resistivity is elucidated using basic theoretical arguments and supported by two-fluid numerical simulations. We show that, for intermediate values of the resistivity, the reconnection is bistable. We map the hysteresis curve and demonstrate that the transition from slow to fast reconnection is catastrophic. We present a scaling analysis for the resistivities at which transitions occur and propose that the transition is a possible mechanism for reconnection onset in physical systems.Keywords
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