Magnetic reconnection with anomalous resistivity in two-and-a-half dimensions I: Quasi-stationary case

Abstract

In this paper quasi-stationary, two-and-a-half-dimensional magnetic reconnection is studied in the framework of incompressible resistive magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). A new theoretical approach for calculation of the reconnection rate is presented. This approach is based on local analytical derivations in a thin reconnection layer, and it is applicable to the case when resistivity is anomalous and is an arbitrary function of the electric current and the spatial coordinates. It is found that a quasi-stationary reconnection rate is fully determined by a particular functional form of the anomalous resistivity and by the local configuration of the magnetic field just outside the reconnection layer. It is also found that in the special case of constant resistivity reconnection is Sweet-Parker and not Petschek.