Bursty magnetic reconnection under slow shock-generated whistler waves

Abstract

Nonlinear dynamics of magnetic reconnection with an external sub-Alfvenic parallel shear flow is investigated by using two-dimensional compressible Hall MHD simulation. Two pairs of slow shocks in the inflow region are generated by the sub-Alfvenic shear flow in the MHD simulation. With inclusion of Hall effects, it is found that whistler waves are generated in the downstream region of slow shocks. The whistler waves propagating toward the reconnection region drive a large bursty enhancement in magnetic reconnection during its decaying phase. Key Points Bursty reconnection results from whistler waves generated by slow shocksWhistler wave generated by slow shock is not found beforeBursty reconnection driven by whistler wave in inflow region is a new finding