Wave driven magnetic reconnection in the Taylor problem

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An improved Laplace transform theory is developed in order to investigate the initial response of a stable slab plasma equilibrium enclosed by conducting walls to a suddenly applied wall perturbation in the so-called Taylor problem. The novel feature of this theory is that it does not employ asymptotic matching. If the wall perturbation is switched on slowly compared to the Alfvén time then the plasma response eventually asymptotes to that predicted by conventional asymptotic matching theory. However, at early times there is a compressible Alfvén wave driven contribution to the magnetic reconnection rate which is not captured by asymptotic matching theory, and leads to a significant increase in the reconnection rate. If the wall perturbation is switched on rapidly compared to the Alfvén time then strongly localized compressible Alfvén wave-pulses are generated which bounce backward and forward between the walls many times. Each instance these wave-pulses cross the resonant surface they generate a transient surge in the reconnection rate. The maximum pulse driven reconnection rate can be much larger than that predicted by conventional asymptotic matching theory. ©2003 American Institute of Physics.