Author: Masaaki Yamada

Plasmas comprise more than 99 percent of the visible universe; and, wherever plasmas are, magnetic reconnection occurs.

In this common yet incompletely understood physical process, oppositely directed magnetic fields in a plasma meet, break, and then reconnect, converting the huge amounts of energy stored in magnetic fields into kinetic and thermal energy.

In “Magnetic Reconnection,” Masaaki Yamada offers an illuminating synthesis of modern research and advances on this important topic. Magnetic reconnection produces such phenomena as solar flares and the northern lights, and occurs in nuclear fusion devices.