Viscous effects on plasmoid formation from nonlinear resistive tearing growth in a Harris sheet

In this work, the evolution of a highly unstable m=1 resistive tearing mode, leading to plasmoid formation in a Harris sheet, is studied in the framework of full MHD model using the Non-Ideal Magnetohydrodynamics with Rotation, Open Discussion simulation. Following the initial nonlinear growth of the primary m=1 island, the X-point develops into a secondary elongated current sheet that eventually breaks into plasmoids. Two distinctive viscous regimes are found for the plasmoid formation and saturation. In the low viscosity regime(i.e.Pr■1), the plasmoid width increases sharply with viscosity, whereas in the viscosity dominant regime(i.e.Pr■1), the plasmoid size gradually decreases with viscosity. Such a finding quantifies the role of viscosity in modulating the plasmoid formation process through its effects on the plasma flow and the reconnection itself.