Connection and reconnection Original Research Article

Magnetic field reconnection is the most important process leading to the heating and acceleration of solar system plasmas. It is most easily understood in terms of the ‘connection’ theorem which can be traced to the Kelvin-Helmholtz theorem concerning vorticity transport in a fluid. The basis of the theorem and the conditions for its breakdown are reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the view of reconnection as a reconfiguration instability in which a reconnection site appearing in a complex and evolving system results in spontaneous, uncontrolled reconnection which continues until the site disappears.