Sweet's mechanism for merging magnetic fields in conducting fluids

Abstract

Sweet's mechanism for the merging of two oppositely directed magnetic fields in a highly conducting fluid is investigated in a semi-quantitative manner. It is shown that two oppositely directed sunspot fields with scales of 104 km could be merged by Sweet's mechanism, if shoved firmly together, in about two weeks; their normal interdiffusion time would be of the order of 600 years. It is suggested that Sweet's mechanism may be of considerable astrophysical importance: It gives a means of altering quickly the configuration of magnetic fields in ionized gases, allowing a stable field to go over into an unstable configuration, subsequently converting much of the magnetic energy into kinetic energy of the fluid.