Аннотация:Magnetic reconnection is important because of its connection with the topology of field lines. In general, a change in topology means a change of equilibrium, and a release of energy, such as occurs in solar flares. In the context of the solar flare two models for magnetic reconnection, the Sweet–Parker and the Petschek mechanism are presented. The pros and cons of these two models are presented. The role of anomalous resistivity in the Sweet–Parker model is discussed. The bearing of a laboratory experiment and a boundary layer analysis of the problem are described.
