The effects of resistivity on oscillatory reconnection and consequences for solar flare quasi-periodic pulsations

Luiz A.C.A. Schiavo*, James Stewart, Philippa K. Browning

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Quasi-periodic pulsations are often observed in flare emissions. While these may reveal much about the time-dependent reconnection involved in flare energy release, the underlying mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this paper, we use 2D magnetohydrodynamic simulations to investigate the magnetic reconnection in two merging flux ropes, focusing on the effects of the resistivity on the time variation of the reconnection. We consider both uniform resistivity and current-dependent anomalous resistivity profiles. Our findings reveal that resistivity plays a critical role in controlling the reconnection dynamics, including reconnection rate oscillations and the rate of decay of the reconnection rate. Resistivity also influences the oscillations in emitted gyrosynchrotron radiation. However, in contrast to this strong influence of resistivity on reconnection rates, we observed a different behavior for the emitted waves, whose frequencies are almost independent of resistivity variations.
Original languageEnglish
Article number102903
Number of pages14
JournalPhysics of Plasmas
Volume31
Issue number10
Early online date24 Oct 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2024

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