Resonant absorption of Alfvén waves near a neutral point

It is shown that, although the mathematical analysis of the Alfvén-wave equation does not show any variation at non-zero or zero singular points, the role of surface waves in the physical mechanism of resonant absorption of Alfvén waves is very different at these points. This difference becomes even greater when resistivity is taken into account. At the neutral point the zero-frequency surface waves that are symmetric surface modes of the structured neutral layer couple to the tearing mode instability of the layer. The importance of this study for the energy balance in tearing modes and the association of surface waves with driven magnetic reconnection is also pointed out.