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EP: Fachverband Extraterrestrische Physik
EP 9: Astrophysics I
EP 9.3: Talk
Friday, September 3, 2021, 11:45–12:00, H5
Topology-driven magnetic reconnection — •Raquel Mäusle1, Jean-Mathieu Teissier1, and Wolf-Christian Müller1,2 — 1Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Deutschland — 2Max-Planck/Princeton Center for Plasma Physics, Princeton, NJ, USA
Magnetic reconnection is a process that occurs in plasmas, during which the topology of the magnetic field is changed in the presence of finite electrical resistivity. It is observed in solar flares, the Earth's magnetosphere as well as magnetic confinement devices.
We study a three-dimensional model of reconnection driven by magnetic field topology. In this framework, a high entanglement of magnetic field lines amplifies the influence of resistive effects and can thereby trigger reconnection. We investigate this model numerically using a finite-volume scheme to solve the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations. This is done with a simple setup, in which an initially constant magnetic field is driven to high complexity. We study the dynamics of this system, the correlation between the field line entanglement and the occurrence of reconnection events, as well as the dependence of the reconnection rate on the magnetic diffusivity.