Modeling magnetic switchbacks

During Parker Solar Probe's (PSP) first encounter with the Sun, the analysis of in situ data revealed that the solar wind is continually perturbed by transient Alfvénic structures which display magnetic reversals called switchbacks (SBs) accompanied by plasma jets or velocity spikes.

Theory and observations have suggested that they may originate from interchange reconnection that occurs when coronal magnetic loops reconnect with open magnetic field lines. In this presentation we will cover some potential mechanisms that are responsible for the formation of switchbacks.

Using 2.5-D magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulations, we study the effects of flux emergence on the possible generation of SBs through interchange reconnection