| Presentation Title: | Modelling the Creation of Switchbacks from Interchange Reconnection |
| Author(s): | Philip Klaassen
Dana Longcope |
Abstract:
Interchange reconnection in the very low solar corona exchanges the foot points of open and closed field lines. This process has been invoked to explain brief reversals observed in the solar wind’s magnetic fields and called switchbacks. Dynamical simulations of interchange reconnection have not, so far, shown the interchange reconnection regularly leading to instances of magnetic field reversals. To model such reversals, we conducted thin flux tube simulations of a magnetic flux tube after an interchange reconnection event. In the simulations, we observed the formation and persistence of a nonlinear wave in the flux tube. Under certain initial conditions, the geometric properties of these waves exhibit a reversal in magnetic field direction, constituting a switchback. We also perform calculations to show that a wave with the observed properties is a time-independent solution to the MHD equations used in the model. Further investigation of the factors influencing the specific geometry of the wave is required. The results of this work provide additional evidence supporting Interchange Reconnection as the process responsible for the creation of Switchbacks.