ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a review of the basic phenomenology of magnetic reconnection, a discussion of the nonideal physical processes that may be included in closure models, and a survey of some recent results on incorporating reconnection physics into global space weather models. A basic model for disruptive magnetic reconnection on the Sun is that magnetic field lines emerge from the photosphere, and their convective foot point motion drives electrical currents in the coronal plasma. One site that is susceptible to magnetic reconnection is the magnetopause, particularly during periods when the incoming solar wind carries a southward interplanetary magnetic field. Because of the wide separation of scales relevant to magnetic reconnection, it is typically unfeasible to directly resolve all of the relevant physics in global simulation models. Numerical simulations suggest that lower-hybrid modes can play a significant role in the onset of magnetic reconnection. Magnetic reconnection is a robust mechanism that occurs in a large variety of parameter regimes and condition.
