Comments on numerical simulations

The author comments on a couple of things about numerical simulation. One is just about the philosophical discussion that is, spontaneous or driven. The other thing is the numerical or technical one. Frankly, the author didn't want to touch on the technical matter because this should be a common sense one for those who are working at numerical simulation. But since many people take numerical simulation results at their face value, he would like to remind you of the reality hidden behind them. First, he would point out that the meaning of ''driven'' in driven reconnection is different from that defined by Schindler or Akasofu. The author's definition is closer to Axford's definition. In the spontaneous case, for some unpredicted reason an excess energy of the system is suddenly released at a certain point. However, one does not answer how such an unstable state far beyond a stable limit is realized in the magnetotail. In the driven case, there is a definite energy buildup phase starting from a stable state; namely, energy in the black box increases from a stable level subject to an external source. When the state has reached a certain position, the energy is released suddenly. The difference between driven and spontaneous is whether the cause (plasma flow) to trigger reconnection is specified or reconnection is triggered unpredictably. Another difference is that in driven reconnection the reconnection rate is dependent on the speed of the external plasma flow, but in spontaneous reconnection the rate is dependent on the internal condition such as the resistivity