But something very similar to that short lived, but very high current state CAN happen in a plasma as well. Not all plasmas are NECESSARILY actively conducting current, even if they are "conductive". Not all copper pipes are necessarily conducting electricity in every moment only because the copper is conductive.
And nothing like a lightning bolt can happen in a copper rod either. I'm glad we can all agree on that and maybe now leave behind the ridiculous notion that solar flares and CMEs are somehow analogous to lightning.
But circuits can and do "break down' in plasmas and electrical discharges can and do ionize the elements to *much* higher states than they might achieve, were it not for the current.
That doesn't speak to the issue of problems with magnetic reconnection. Irrelevant.
I already answered this question now about 1/2 dozen times for you. It does not account for, nor describe the "charge separation" that is the actual "cause" of the process. In fact it actively ignores the fact that there is current running along the so called "magnetic line". In terms of physics, it fails to correctly describe the *CAUSE* of the "magnetic line", and the experiments are all based upon "charge separation" and "current flow".
So where are the flaws, specifically, in the experiments and research that Tim has linked?
If like Dungey you mean that "discharges happen" at "reconnection" points, I agree.
I mean magnetic reconnection occurs. I do not mean some bastardized and dishonest contortion of the words I actually used.
Actually, that part was never in debate, just the physics part (as usual).
Actually the math bears out the physics. It would be dishonest and/or irrational to suggest that the math supporting the existence of magnetic reconnection is valid, yet the phenomenon does not occur. In fact, it would be definitively an argument from ignorance.
Boloney. Where's the million degree temps? Where's the x-rays? Where are the gamma rays? You can't tell the difference between magnetic attraction/repulsion and "reconnection" events that involve "electrical discharges" through the 'conductive media".
The unsupported denial and incredulous protestations aside, we can make magnetic reconnection happen with a couple of refrigerator magnets, no electricity required.
Lot's of folks do not believe in magnetic reconnection, not just me and the guy that wrote MHD theory. I'm not going to 'buck up' based on an appeal to popularity fallacy.
The real scientists in this discussion, and others where the unsupported claim is made that there are problems with magnetic reconnection, don't
believe in magnetic reconnection. Many of them have studied and/or participated in relevant contemporary research. They understand it. So why has nobody demonstrated the alleged flaws in the experiments and research that Tim has linked or any other contemporary research that bears out the existence of magnetic reconnection?
There's more than a 'few' of us actually. Pretty much every EU proponent I know of rejects it outright. I'm actually a lot more "liberal" than most EU proponents on this specific topic.
Pretty much every EU proponent is a crackpot, and pretty much none of them has demonstrated any qualification to understand the physics that they hold in such contempt. And none of them has ever been able to properly, objectively, and quantitatively criticize magnetic reconnection in a valid, legitimately scientific way.
Is English not your first language? What about "It fails to account for or describe the charge separation process that actually "causes" the filaments to form in the plasma" do you not understand? Those filaments are much more than 'magnetic lines' in terms of the kinetic energy they *already* posses *BEFORE* reconnection/discharges occur.
I see that kind of assertion made again and again, but it's just a bunch of sciency sounding words strung together, not supported by legitimate science. I fail to see any actual objective quantitative criticism of magnetic reconnection in it, however.
If you ignore the utter sadness of the whole ignorance thing, it's actually pretty funny. Sorry, but that line isn't in the holy book, but thanks for playing!