ENERGY-RELEASE AND PLASMA-HEATING BY FORCED MAGNETIC RECONNECTION

A simple model of forced magnetic reconnection in a force-free magneti c field is considered, which allows the calculation of the magnetic en ergy release during the current sheet reconnection. The dependence of this energy on characteristics of the magnetic configuration has been studied, and it was found that the released energy becomes very large when the field is near the marginal tearing stability. A persistent pl asma heating provided by ongoing external driving and internal reconne ction is most efficient when the time-scales of these processes are co mparable. Possible implications of the obtained results for the proble m of solar coronal heating are briefly discussed. (C) 1998 American In stitute of Physics.