A new paradigm for 3D Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

A new paradigm is suggested for 3D magnetic reconnection where the interaction of reconnection processes with current aligned instabilities plays an important role. According to the new paradigm, the initial equilibrium is rendered unstable by current aligned instabilities (lower-hybrid drift instability first, drift-kink instability later) and the non-uniform development of kinking modes leads to a compression of magnetic field lines in certain locations and a rarefaction in others. The areas where the flow is compressional are subjected to a driven reconnection process. In the present paper we illustrate this series of events with a selection of simulation results. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.