| Preface | p. xiii |
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Basic kinematic concepts | p. 10 |
| Magnetic flux and magnetic helicity | p. 10 |
| Conservation of magnetic topology | p. 14 |
| Conditions for magnetic reconnection | p. 17 |
| Conservation of magnetic helicity in reconnection | p. 21 |
| Current sheets | p. 29 |
| Resistive MHD | p. 30 |
| The MHD equations | p. 30 |
| Equilibrium and linear modes | p. 32 |
| Conservation laws | p. 37 |
| Reduced MHD models | p. 38 |
| Resistive current sheets | p. 43 |
| Current-sheet formation | p. 43 |
| Basic properties of resistive current sheets | p. 52 |
| Refined theory of the current-sheet structure | p. 55 |
| Driven current-sheet reconnection | p. 59 |
| Syrovatskii's theory of current sheets | p. 60 |
| Dynamic structure of Y-points | p. 66 |
| Scaling laws of stationary current-sheet reconnection | p. 69 |
| Petschek's slow-shock model | p. 75 |
| Resistive instabilities | p. 81 |
| The resistive tearing mode | p. 82 |
| Linear tearing instability | p. 85 |
| Small-amplitude nonlinear behavior | p. 88 |
| Saturation of the tearing mode | p. 91 |
| Effect of dynamic resistivity | p. 95 |
| Neoclassical tearing mode | p. 96 |
| The double tearing mode | p. 99 |
| The resistive kink mode | p. 103 |
| Resistive kink instability | p. 104 |
| Small-amplitude nonlinear evolution | p. 106 |
| Final state of the resistive kink mode | p. 112 |
| Coalescence instability | p. 114 |
| Pressure-driven instabilities | p. 118 |
| Interchange and ballooning modes | p. 118 |
| Nonlinear evolution of pressure-driven modes | p. 125 |
| Finite pressure effects on tearing modes | p. 128 |
| Shear flow instability | p. 129 |
| Shear flow instability in neutral fluids | p. 130 |
| Effect of magnetic field on the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability | p. 133 |
| Instability of a magnetized jet | p. 135 |
| Instability of a resistive current sheet | p. 137 |
| Threshold condition for tearing instability | p. 137 |
| Plasmoids | p. 142 |
| Dynamo theory | p. 145 |
| Kinematic dynamo theory | p. 148 |
| Nonexistence theorems and special dynamo solutions | p. 149 |
| The rope dynamo | p. 151 |
| Mean-field electrodynamics | p. 153 |
| [alpha superscript 2]- and [alpha Omega]-dynamos | p. 155 |
| Free dynamo modes | p. 159 |
| Mean-field MHD dynamo theory | p. 161 |
| Nonlinear quenching processes and magnetic buoyancy | p. 161 |
| The solar dynamo | p. 164 |
| MHD theory of thermal convection | p. 168 |
| Thermal convection in a rotating sphere | p. 168 |
| The self-consistent MHD dynamo | p. 173 |
| The geodynamo | p. 179 |
| MHD turbulence | p. 182 |
| Homogeneous MHD turbulence | p. 182 |
| Selective decay and energy decay laws | p. 184 |
| Spatial scaling properties | p. 189 |
| Homogenous turbulent dynamo | p. 197 |
| Noncollisional reconnection processes | p. 199 |
| Two-fluid theory | p. 201 |
| High-[beta] whistler-mediated reconnection | p. 206 |
| The EMHD approximation | p. 207 |
| Properties of the reconnection region | p. 208 |
| Coalescence of EMHD flux bundles | p. 212 |
| Electron Kelvin--Helmholtz instability of the current layer | p. 215 |
| Ion-controlled reconnection dynamics | p. 218 |
| Low-[beta] noncollisional reconnection | p. 221 |
| The four-field and three-field models | p. 221 |
| Linear stability theory | p. 224 |
| Nonlinear noncollisional kink mode | p. 229 |
| Electron inertia-dominated reconnection | p. 229 |
| Kinetic Alfven-wave-mediated reconnection | p. 232 |
| Influence of diamagnetic effects | p. 237 |
| Criterion for fast reconnection | p. 239 |
| Sawtooth oscillation in tokamak plasmas | p. 241 |
| Basic experimental observations | p. 241 |
| The safety factor profile | p. 244 |
| Stabilization and onset of sawtooth oscillations | p. 246 |
| Observations of the collapse dynamics | p. 248 |
| Theoretical interpretation of the sawtooth collapse | p. 250 |
| Laboratory reconnection experiments | p. 252 |
| The UCLA magnetic reconnection experiment | p. 253 |
| The PPPL magnetic reconnection experiment | p. 254 |
| The Tokyo University reconnection experiment | p. 256 |
| Microscopic theory of magnetic reconnection | p. 258 |
| Vlasov theory and microinstabilities | p. 259 |
| Linear Vlasov theory | p. 260 |
| Quasi-linear theory | p. 265 |
| Mode coupling, resonance broadening, and particle trapping | p. 268 |
| Turbulent transport coefficients | p. 272 |
| Ion-sound instability | p. 274 |
| Linear stability characteristics | p. 274 |
| Nonlinear saturation and long-time behavior | p. 278 |
| Lower-hybrid-drift instability (LHDI) | p. 285 |
| Whistler anisotropy instability | p. 292 |
| The collisionless tearing mode | p. 296 |
| Linear stability theory | p. 298 |
| Nonlinear saturation | p. 301 |
| The ion tearing mode | p. 304 |
| Particle simulation of collisionless reconnection | p. 307 |
| Particle simulation methods | p. 307 |
| Collisionless electron dynamics | p. 310 |
| Collisionless ion dynamics | p. 312 |
| GEM Magnetic Reconnection Challenge | p. 316 |
| Three-dimensional simulations | p. 318 |
| Magnetospheric substorms | p. 320 |
| The structure of the magnetosphere | p. 321 |
| The solar wind | p. 321 |
| Magnetopause and bow shock | p. 325 |
| The internal structure of the magnetosphere | p. 329 |
| Magnetospheric convection | p. 333 |
| Magnetopause reconnection | p. 336 |
| Magnetospheric substorms | p. 339 |
| Substorm-related observations | p. 340 |
| MHD modeling of substorms | p. 343 |
| Collisionless reconnection in the magnetotail | p. 350 |
| Nonreconnective substorm model | p. 351 |
| Particle acceleration by magnetotail reconnection | p. 353 |
| Epilogue | p. 357 |
| Bibliography | p. 359 |
| Index | p. 381 |
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