[en] A brief review of the recent studies on magnetic reconnection by the Alaskan group will be presented in this paper. The subjects covered include: the multiple X line reconnection (MXR) model for the flux transfer events, the criterion for the transition from the single X line to the multiple X line reconnection, a global simulation of the dayside magnetopause reconnection, a particle simulation of single X line reconnection and multiple X line reconnection, a patchy reconnection mechanism, and a mechanism for the generation of cusp-region hydromagnetic waves. (author). 35 refs.; 5 figs

[en] Complete text of publication follows. The presentation will review advances, obtained in the last couple years, in our understanding of the magnetopause, its boundary layer, their role, and the processes that occur there. Observational, modelling and theoretical works will be reviewed.

[en] Impulsive plasma penetration has been proposed as a means by which solar wind plasma may cross the magnetopause and enter the magnetosphere. It has been predicted that plasma entry by this means will be correlated with a magnetopause penetration parameter. One of the most important signatures of plasma entry into the magnetosphere are flux transfer events (FTEs). If plasma penetration is an important mechanism in plasma entry, then it would be expected that the occurrence of flux transfer events will correlate with the penetration parameter. On the other hand, if reconnection is, as widely believed, the dominant mechanism for the entry of solar-wind plasma into the magnetosphere, then plasma entry will be correlated with the north/south IMF component. AMPTE UKS data show that the occurrence of FTE signatures is better correlated with the direction of the IMF than with the penetration parameter. Thus, impulsive plasma penetration is unlikely to be the mechanism responsible for FTEs

No abstract available

[en] The structure of the boundary layer near the magnetopause is discussed. The boundary layer is the plasma region situated along the magnetospheric boundary. High-latitude boundary layer rises from the dayside cusp and extends to the magnetotail. Low-latitude boundary layer is situated in the frontal part ofthe magnetosphere and on flanks at low latitudes

[en] Unsteady reconnection problem in skewed fields under the finite length of X-line is considered in the frame of ideal incompressible MHD approximation. The propagation of discontinuities as well as the evolution of magnetic field, analytically for the arbitrary given function which describe the time behaviour of reconnection rate. In the neighbourhood of the X-line the solution looks like the well-known Petschek solution. Plasma is strongly accelerated when crossing the moving slow shocks, which propagate along the magnetic field in different directions skewed fields. As a consequence the process leads to the large extension of magnetic flux tubes closed across the initial current sheet. The basic features of these tubes resemble very much the behaviour of dayside FTE's. (author). 5 refs.; 2 figs

[en] In this paper, the stabilities of MHD rotational discontinuities are analyzed. The results show that the rotational discontinuities in an incompressible magnetofluid are not always stable with respect to infinitesimal perturbation. The instability condition in a special case is obtained. (author)

No abstract available

[en] We study the reconnection layer for different regions of the Earth's magnetopause using a Petschek-type reconnection model which allows for tangential plasma flows and skewed magnetic fields. In particular, we use parameters of the magnetosheath appropriate to the subsolar, the cusp and the flank regions. The skew of the ambient magnetic fields and the velocity shear across the magnetopause differ greatly in the various regions we study, and the properties of the reconnection layer show a corresponding variation

No abstract available