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“Ambipolar diffusion” and magnetic reconnection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2011

Yuriy T. Tsap  and
Alexander V. Stepanov
Yuriy T. Tsap
Affiliation:
Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchny, Crimea, 98409, Ukraine email: yur@crao.crimea.ua
Alexander V. Stepanov
Affiliation:
Central (Pulkovo) Astronomical Observatory, St. Petersburg, 196140, Russia email: stepanov@gao.spb.ru
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Abstract

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Based on the three-fluid approximation the influence of the neutral component of hydrogen plasma on Joule dissipation of electric currents are considered. As distinguished from Mestel & Spitzer (1956) and Parker (1963) it has been shown that the magnetic flux may be not conserved in the case of the “ambipolar diffusion” due to collisions between ions and neutrals. This is explained by the ion acceleration under the action of Ampere's force. Joule dissipation is determined by electron and ion collisions in a partially ionized plasma. Plasma evacuation from current sheets is the effective mechanism of its cooling. Thickness of a current sheet can achieve up to hundreds of kilometers in the solar chromosphere. The origin of the solar chromospheric jets observed with the Hinode satellite are discussed.

Keywords

plasmasmagnetic fieldsdiffusionstars: formationSun: chromosphere
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S274: Advances in Plasma Astrophysics , September 2010 , pp. 302 - 305
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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