Current layer cascade in collisionless electron-magnetohydrodynamic reconnection and electron compressibility effects

The nonlinear phase of a magnetic field line reconnection instability in a collisionless two-dimensional cold plasma is investigated in the Hall dominated regime, described by the electron-magnetohydrodynamic equations, which corresponds to the frequency range of whistler waves. It is found that the regular pattern of current density layers that forms in the initial nonlinear phase of the reconnection instability is destroyed by the onset of a Kelvin-Helmholtz-type instability and the formation of current jets that develop into vortex rings. These processes can be interpreted in terms of a Hasegawa-Mima-type regime inside the magnetic island and lead to the creation of magnetic vortices. It is shown that electron compressibility, which is related to charge separation, tends to stabilize these processes. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics