The independence of oscillatory reconnection periodicity from the initial pulse

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that the period of oscillatory reconnection in hot coronal plasma is unaffected by the initial wave pulse strength or type, highlighting its potential for coronal seismology applications.

Contribution

It is the first to show that oscillatory reconnection period is independent of initial pulse strength and type in a hot coronal plasma, with implications for solar physics.

Findings

Reconnection period is independent of initial pulse amplitude.

Anisotropic thermal conduction increases the average period.

Different initial drivers yield consistent oscillation periods.

Abstract

Oscillatory reconnection can manifest through the interaction between the ubiquitous MHD waves and omnipresent null points in the solar atmosphere and is characterized by an inherent periodicity. In the current study, we focus on the relationship between the period of oscillatory reconnection and the strength of the wave pulse initially perturbing the null point, in a hot coronal plasma. We use the PLUTO code to solve the fully compressive, resistive MHD equations for a 2D magnetic X-point. Using wave pulses with a wide range of amplitudes, we perform a parameter study to obtain values for the period, considering the presence and absence of anisotropic thermal conduction separately. In both cases, we find that the resulting period is independent of the strength of the initial perturbation. The addition of anisotropic thermal conduction only leads to an increase in the mean value for the period, in agreement with our previous study. We also consider a different type of initial driver and we obtain an oscillation period matching the independent trend previously mentioned. Thus, we report for the first time on the independence between the type and strength of the initializing wave pulse and the resulting period of oscillatory reconnection in a hot coronal plasma. This makes oscillatory reconnection a promising mechanism to be used within the context of coronal seismology.