Based on the three-dimensional compressible resistive MHD models, the Earth’s dipole magnetic field is employed to investigate IMF By penetration driven by the solar wind during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) with uniform resistivity. It is found that the magnetic field By is built up in the central plasma sheet of the Earth’s magnetotail. When θ = 30° (where BIMFy = BIMF sin θ), the magnetic field By in the plasma sheet is the strongest and even larger than the initial imposed BIMFy. In addition, BIMFy promotes the reconnection process of dayside magnetopause. With a further increase in θ, the reconnection rate of dayside magnetopause and the magnetic field By decrease, and the structure changes significantly. The results can be used to analyze the observed data of IMF By penetration.
Magnetic reconnection in the presence of fast sheared plasma flows is investigated using two-dimensional incompressible resistive MHD simulation. It is found that if the initial shear-flow velocity is sufficiently large, multiple Alfvén resonance layers can be formed in the inflow region away from the reconnection separatrices. In particular, two Alfvén layers are formed when the initial asymptotic flow velocity is twice the Alfvén velocity. The Alfvén layers are located in the narrow regions where the flow speed equals or twice the local Alfvén speed. The formation and evolution of the Alfvén layers and magnetic islands are analyzed. It is suggested that the geometry of the magnetic field lines during the islands complex inosculated process is related to the local distribution of velocities. The results may be applied to where the magnetic reconnection occurs with large plasma shear flows in laboratory and space plasma.
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