Forced magnetic reconnection in a sheared force-free magnetic field brings about relaxation of the system to a state of lower magnetic energy. The resulting energy release becomes strongly amplified when the field is close to the tearing instability threshold, which makes the linear theory [Vekstein and Jain, Phys. Plasmas 5, 1506 (1998)] not applicable in this case. In the present Brief Communication the reconnective energy release in the marginally stable magnetic field is derived by exploring the quasilinear theory of tearing modes.
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© 2004 American Institute of Physics.
2004
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