Shear flow effects on double tearing mode global magnetic reconnection

TL;DR

This paper investigates how poloidal shear flow influences global magnetic reconnection in double tearing modes, revealing that shear flow delays reconnection by breaking symmetry and generating mean flows.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of shear flow effects on reconnection dynamics, highlighting the delay mechanism and symmetry breaking in resistive layers.

Findings

Small shear flow delays reconnection processes.

Shear flow causes symmetry breaking and mean flow generation.

Reconnection dynamics depend on resistivity and surface separation.

Abstract

The dynamics of a global reconnection in the presence of a poloidal shear flow which is located in between magnetic islands is investigated. Different linear regimes are identified according to the value of the resistivity and the distance between the low-order resonant surfaces. It is found that the presence of a small shear flow affects and significantly delays the global reconnection processes. It is shown that this delay is linked to a breaking of symmetry imposed by the existence of the shear flow and the generation of a mean poloidal flow in the resistive layers.