Magnetic field line reconnection

The term 'magnetic field line reconnection' has arisen in the physics of rarefied plasmas with very high conductivity. When such a plasma is in motion, the remarkable property of field line 'freezing in' of the plasma manifests itself. However, situations sometimes occur in real plasma motion where this condition is violated, e.g. when oppositely directed field lines approach each other and reconnect. The process of reconnection results in a marked change in the field line topology and is accompanied by the formation of current layers and the conversion of magnetic energy into kinetic and thermal plasma energies. Magnetic field line reconnection plays a key role in many processes in the near-Earth, space and laboratory fusion plasmas.