Secondary instabilities in two- and three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in fusion relevant plasmas

The fast collisionless reconnection process typical of fusion relevant plasma regimes is analyzed with both two-dimensional and three-dimensional models. The vorticity and current density layers, which typically form in these regimes, are followed during all the phases of their dynamical evolution. Here, these structures are shown to be unstable in the cold electron case to secondary Kelvin-Helmholtz-like instabilities not only in the two-dimensional approximation but also in the full three-dimensional setting. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics