Initiation of Impulsively Fast Magnetic Reconnection Induced by Current Sheet Ejection

Abstract

Fast magnetic reconnection mechanism triggered by current sheet ejection is studied in plasma merging laboratory experiment with a strong guide field. The current sheet is hardly compressed in the presence of the guide field and slow steady reconnection evolves in the early phase. It then transits to impulsively fast magnetic reconnection when the current sheet is ejected from the X point region. Behavior of the current sheet is investigated in detail by comparison with the fast reconnection case provided by anomalous resistivity.