Magnetic Reconnection: MHD Theory and Applications

Magnetic reconnection is at the core of many dynamic phenomena in the universe, such as solar flares, geomagnetic substorms and tokamak disruptions. In an authoritative volume, two world leaders on the subject give a comprehensive overview of this fundamental process. The book provides both a full 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 provides a succinct account of various mechanisms of particle acceleration and of how reconnection can be important in such mechanisms. The clear and pedagogical style makes this book an essential introduction for graduate students and an authoritative reference for researchers in solar physics, astrophysics, plasma physics and space science.

• An extremeley comprehensive text on this fundamental process • Currently a very hot topic due to advances in theory and computer simulations, and observations from spacecraft such as SOHO (the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), Yohkoh and Trace • Of wide-ranging use - to scientists in solar physics, astrophysics, plasma physics and space science

Contents
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Current-sheet formation; 3. Magnetic annihilation; 4. Steady reconnection: the classical solutions; 5. Steady reconnection: new generation of fast regimes; 6. Unsteady reconnection: the tearing mode; 7. Unsteady reconnection: other approaches; 8. Reconnection in three dimensions; 9. Laboratory applications; 10. Magnetospheric applications; 11. Solar applications; 12. Astrophysical applications; 13. Particle acceleration; References; Appendices; Index.