Turbulent excitation of spontaneous reconnection

We explore the long-term nonlinear evolution of a tearing-mode-unstable sheared-field plasma in a turbulent environment. Two different physical configurations are modeled, and a different computational system is used for each. Results of both sets of calculations show that magnetic tearing arises spontaneously provided that the initial turbulence energy level is below the natural saturation level of the tearing instability.

We discuss briefly the relationship between our results and those of previous calculations, concluding that there are no significant unexplainable disagreements.