Resistive magnetic tearing in a finite length pinch

The effects of axial boundary conditions on the tearing mode of a cylindrical pinch are described. A flexible inertial ''line-tying'' model is used to restrict the available perturbations of a force-free current-channel equilibrium, similar to that in a reversed-field pinch. The resistively unstable mode is found to be azimuthally symmetric (m = 0), and the external (ideal) and internal (resistive) solutions are detailed, the latter being found by a unique numerical procedure. The solutions can be either ''constant-psi'' or fast growing, depending on the width of the current channel. Threshold behavior and subsequent growth rates are calculated. Finally, an application of this reconnection mechanism to the flare instability of a narrow solar coronal loop is described