RAPID RECONNECTION IN COMPRESSIBLE PLASMA

A study of set-up, propagation, and interaction of non-linear and line ar magnetohydrodynamic waves driven by magnetic reconnection is presen ted. The source term of the waves generated by magnetic reconnection i s obtained explicitly in terms of the initial background conditions an d the local reconnection electric field. The non-linear solution of th e problem found earlier, serves as a basis for formulation and extensi ve investigation of the corresponding linear initial-boundary value pr oblem of compressible magnetohydrodynamics. In plane geometry, the Gre en's function of the problem is obtained and its properties are discus sed. For the numerical evaluation it turns out that a specific choice of the integration contour in the complex plane of phase velocities is much more effective than the convolution with the real Green's functi on. Many complex effects like intrinsic wave coupling, anisotropic pro pagation characteristics, generation of surface and side wave modes in a finite beta plasma are retained in this analysis. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.