Phase Diagrams of Forced Magnetic Reconnection in Taylor's Model

TL;DR

This paper introduces new parameter space diagrams for externally driven magnetic reconnection in Taylor's model, accounting for dynamical evolution and external drive parameters, enabling better prediction of reconnection regimes.

Contribution

It presents a novel set of phase diagrams that incorporate dynamical evolution and external driving parameters, improving understanding of magnetic reconnection regimes.

Findings

Diagrams predict slow or fast reconnection based on external drive parameters.

Inclusion of dynamical evolution distinguishes these diagrams from previous models.

Parameter regions identified for different reconnection behaviors.

Abstract

Recent progress in the understanding of how externally driven magnetic reconnection evolves is organized in terms of parameter space diagrams. These diagrams are constructed using four pivotal dimensionless parameters: the Lundquist number $S$, the magnetic Prandtl number $P_m$, the amplitude of the boundary perturbation $\hat \Psi_0$, and the perturbation wave number $\hat k$. This new representation highlights the parameters regions of a given system in which the magnetic reconnection process is expected to be distinguished by a specific evolution. Contrary to previously proposed phase diagrams, the diagrams introduced here take into account the dynamical evolution of the reconnection process and are able to predict slow or fast reconnection regimes for the same values of $S$ and $P_m$, depending on the parameters that characterize the external drive, never considered so far. These features are important to understand the onset and evolution of magnetic reconnection in diverse physical systems