Nonlinear evolution of the resistive tearing mode
The nonlinear behavior of the tearing instability is investigated with the aid of numerical solutions of the resistive incompressible magnetohydrodynamic equations. This study is directed toward solar applications, such as flares. Simulations were carried out for values of the Lundquist number S from 100 to 1,000,000 and wavelength parameter alpha from 0.042 to 0.5. The influence of linear conditions, such as the constancy of psi, on nonlinear growth characteristics is investigated. For high S and low alpha, secondary-flow vortices, opposite in direction to the linear vortices, were found to generate a new magnetic island centered at the initial X point. The nonlinear spatial distributions of the physical variables differ greatly from the linear behavior, and growth slows considerably once nonlinear effects become important.