Influence of parallel shearing flow on the switch-off effect of magnetic reconnection

• Main Authors: Yang Liu, Junfeng Huang, Tengfei Zhu, Jinzhu Chen, Tianjie Xia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: AIP Publishing LLC 2019-12-01
• Series: AIP Advances
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5119841

Parallel shearing flows significantly affect the structure of the magnetic reconnection layer and generate new shock structures such as intermediate shock (IS) and time-dependent IS. The strength of shock waves (such as slow shock) can be changed and result in the switch-off of magnetic reconnection under certain conditions. In this study, we perform numerical simulations of one-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic equations by using the total variation diminishing algorithm to investigate the influence of parallel shear flow on the switch-off effect of magnetic reconnection on both asymmetric and symmetric magnetic reconnection layers. Numerical results show that there exists a critical shear velocity Vzc that equals VA in symmetrical antiparallel magnetic reconnection, where VA denotes the inflow Alfvén velocity. For symmetric component magnetic reconnection, Vzc drops with the increase in guide magnetic field strength, which also equals the component of inflow Alfvén velocity along the z-axis. In regard to asymmetric magnetic reconnection, the critical shear velocity, Vzc, that leads to the switch-off of magnetic reconnection, ranging between the z-axis components of inflow Alfvén velocity in the magentosheath and in the magnetosphere. A new parameter associated with the Alfvén velocity on both sides is proposed; for both antiparallel reconnection and component reconnection, this new parameter equals the critical shear velocities.