HR: 11:50h
AN: SM12A-07    [Abstracts]
TI: The Topology of Magnetic Reconnection in the Sun's Corona
AU: * Antiochos, S K
EM: antiochos@nrl.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, Code 7675, Washington, DC 20375 United States
AB: It has long been recognized that magnetic topology plays the critical role in reconnection at the magnetopause. The essential requirement for reconnection is that the system has a multi-flux topology, and the location of the reconnection is at the boundaries between the different flux systems, specifically separator lines and null points. On the other hand, it is commonly believed that reconnection driven by photospheric motions can occur more-or-less anywhere in the Sun's corona. We present both theoretical and 3D numerical simulation results arguing that, in fact, the magnetosphere and corona are physically similar in that topology strongly restricts how and where coronal reconnection can occur. We also discuss important differences between the reconnection in the corona and magnetosphere. This work was supported, in part, by ONR and NASA.
DE: 2100 INTERPLANETARY PHYSICS
DE: 2700 MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS (6939)
DE: 7500 SOLAR PHYSICS, ASTROPHYSICS, AND ASTRONOMY
DE: 7835 Magnetic reconnection (2723, 7526)
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005