1997. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.( THE POWER OUTPUT OF SPINE AND FAN MAGNETIC RECONNECTION SOLUTIONS

The ability of three-dimensional magnetic “ “ spine ÏÏ and “ “ fan ÏÏ reconnection solutions to provide Ñare-like energy release is discussed. It is pointed out, on the basis of exact analytic solutions, that fast dissi-pation is possible only if the hydromagnetic pressure in the reconnection region becomes unbounded in the limit of small plasma resistivities. The implication is that some “ “ saturation ÏÏ of the power output is inevitable for realistic coronal plasmas. Estimates of the saturated power, based on limiting the Ñux pileup in the Ðeld, suggest that the geometry of the spine reconnection mechanism precludes signiÐcant Ñare energy release. However, the current sheet structures involved in fan reconnection seem able to release sufficient magnetic energy fast enough to account for modest Ñares, even under the conservative assumption of classical plasma resistivities. Subject headings: MHD È plasmas 1