Magnetic Reconnection: MHD Theory and Applications

by Eric Priest , Terry Forbes

• ISBN13: 9780521033947
• ISBN10: 0521033942
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-02-26
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Magnetic reconnection is at the core of many dynamic phenomena in the universe, such as solar flares, geomagnetic substorms and tokamak disruptions. Written by two world leaders on the subject, this volume provides a comprehensive overview of this fundamental process. Coverage gives both a pedagogical account of the basic theory and a wide-ranging review of the physical phenomena created by reconnection--from laboratory machines, the Earth's magnetosphere, and the Sun's atmosphere to flare stars and astrophysical accretion disks. It also includes a succinct account of particle acceleration by electric fields, stochastic fields and shock waves, and how reconnection can be important in these mechanisms. Clearly written and highly accessible, this volume serves as an essential introduction for graduate students in solar physics, astrophysics, plasma physics and space science. Researchers in these fields also will find Magnetic Reconnection an authoritative reference.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Current-sheet formation

Magnetic annihilation

Steady reconnection: the classical solutions

Steady reconnection: new generation of fast regimes

Unsteady reconnection: the tearing mode

Unsteady reconnection: other approaches

Reconnection in three dimensions

Laboratory applications

Magnetospheric applications

Solar applications

Astrophysical applications

Particle acceleration

References

Appendices

Index

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