Normal-Field Evolution and the Breakdown of Classical Tearing in Current Sheets

Abstract

Classical resistive tearing theory assumes a prescribed current-sheet equilibrium, but a finite normal magnetic field can evolve the background on the tearing timescale. For a transversely pressure-balanced Harris profile of initial half-thickness $a$ and asymptotic reconnecting-field magnitude $B_0$, threaded by uniform $B_n$ ($ξ=B_n/B_0$), we derive an exact evolution in ideal magnetohydrodynamics: counter-propagating Alfvenic fronts broaden the neutral layer and generate a central sheet-parallel flow with shear at its flanks. Inner-layer estimates recover $ξ_{\mathrm{crit}}\sim S^{-3/4}$ for breakdown of the classical resistive balance, where $S$ is the Lundquist number based on $a$. Numerical frozen-profile calculations show loss of central resistive dominance and decreasing tearing growth as the neutral layer expands. Eigenfunction comparisons at fixed wavenumber and predominantly Doppler-shifted propagation support a normal-field-modified continuation of classical tearing. The normal field supplies no net perturbation energy. Energy extraction from the reconnecting-field gradient weakens as the sheet broadens. The velocity-gradient contribution becomes comparable when the neutral-layer width approaches the initial sheet thickness, without reversing the decline in growth. For $S=10^6$, $\mathrm{Pr}_m=0$, and $ξ=10^{-4}$, the maximum growth rate falls by a factor of about ten from its initial value at neutral-layer half-width $w\simeq1.59a$, where the growth and broadening times become equal. Only about 0.18 additional upper-envelope e-folds are estimated between this crossing and $w/a=2$, where the growth rate is about 25 times smaller than its initial value. These results support dynamical suppression of further linear amplification over the sampled evolution, even though the instantaneous spectrum remains unstable.