Electron-inertia effects on magnetic field reconnection driven by perturbations on boundaries

In this Letter, we consider electron-inertia effects on the magnetic field reconnection induced by perturbing the boundaries of a slab of plasma with a magnetic neutral surface inside. The subsequent evolution of the current sheet formed at the magnetic neutral surface via ideal MHD development is found to be divided into two distinct stages: (1) the electron-inertia stage for small times (when the current sheet is very narrow); (2) the resistive-diffusion stage for large times. The current sheet mainly undergoes exponential damping in the electron-inertia regime while the bulk of the diffusion occurs in the resistivity regime. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.