It is proposed to add a Rapid Communications section to the Journal of Plasma Physics. Papers submitted to this section should be restricted to no more than five printed pages in length, and should contain new and important ideas that warrant rapid dissemination amongst the plasma physics community. Submissions may be sent to any of the Editors or Associate Editors, who will obtain an assessment of the suitability of the paper as quickly as possible. We hope that readers and authors will find this a valuable addition to the journal.

The model of time-dependent Petschek-type reconnection is extended to take into account first-order corrections with respect to the reconnection rate. The plasma velocity inside the outflow region turns out to be smaller than the zero-order Alfvén velocity, and therefore strong reconnection is less effective in plasma acceleration. The model is also applied to study the effect of incoming waves on reconnection. We show that incoming waves of Alfvén type, carrying an electric current that is antiparallel to the initial current in the sheet, increase the reconnection rate and cause additional acceleration of the plasma, so that this wave can be considered as a potential trigger.

We study the magnetic field and plasma parameters downstream of a fast shock as functions of normalized upstream parameters and the rate of pressure anisotropy (defined as the ratio of perpendicular to parallel pressure). We analyse two cases: with the shock (i) perpendicular and (ii) inclined with respect to the magnetic field. The relations on the fast shock in a magnetized anisotropic plasma are solved taking into account the criteria for the mirror instability and firehose instability bounding the pressure anisotropy downstream of the shock. Our analysis shows that the parallel pressure and the parallel temperature as well as the tangential component of the velocity are the parameters that are most sensitive to the rate of pressure anisotropy. The variations of the other parameters, namely density, normal velocity, tangential component of the magnetic field, perpendicular pressure, and perpendicular temperature are much less pronounced, in particular when the perpendicular pressure exceeds the parallel pressure. The variations of all parameters increase substantially for a very low rate of anisotropy, which is bounded by the firehose instability in the case of inclined shocks. Using the criterion for mirror instability as a closure relation for the jump conditions at the fast shock, we obtain the plasma parameters and the magnetic field downstream of the shock as functions of the Alfvén Mach number. For each Alfvén Mach number, the criterion for mirror instability determines the minimum jumps in such parameters as density, tangential magnetic field component, parallel pressure, and temperature, and determines the maximum values of the velocity components and the perpendicular temperature. Ideal anisotropic magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) has wide applications for space plasma physics. Observations of the field and plasma behaviour in the solar wind as well as in the Earth's magnetosheath have highlighted the need for an MHD model where the plasma pressure is treated as a tensor.

Nonlinear resonant slow magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves are studied in weakly dissipative isotropic plasmas for a cylindrical equilibrium model. The equilibrium magnetic field lines are unidirectional and parallel with the z axis. The nonlinear governing equations for resonant slow magnetoacoustic (SMA) waves are derived. Using the method of matched asymptotic expansions inside and outside the narrow dissipative layer, we generalize the connection formulae for the Eulerian perturbation of the total pressure and for the normal component of the velocity. These nonlinear connection formulae in dissipative cylindrical MHD are an important extention of the connection formulae obtained in linear ideal MHD [Sakurai et al., Solar Phys. 133, 227 (1991)], linear dissipative MHD [Goossens et al., Solar Phys. 175, 75 (1995); Erdélyi, Solar Phys. 171, 49 (1997)] and in nonlinear dissipative MHD derived in slab geometry [Ruderman et al., Phys. Plasmas4, 75 (1997)]. These generalized connection formulae enable us to connect the solutions at both sides of the dissipative layer without solving the MHD equations in the dissipative layer. We also show that the nonlinear interaction of harmonics in the dissipative layer is responsible for generating a parallel mean flow outside the dissipative layer.

It is shown that the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium states of an axisymmetric toroidal plasma with finite resistivity and flows parallel to the magnetic field are governed by a second-order partial differential equation for the poloidal magnetic flux function ψ coupled with a Bernoulli-type equation for the plasma density (which are identical in form to the corresponding ideal MHD equilibrium equations) along with the relation Δ*ψ = Vcσ (here Δ* is the Grad–Schlüter–Shafranov operator, σ is the conductivity and Vc is the constant toroidal-loop voltage divided by 2π). In particular, for incompressible flows, the above-mentioned partial differential equation becomes elliptic and decouples from the Bernoulli equation [H. Tasso and G. N. Throumoulopoulos, Phys. Plasma5, 2378 (1998)]. For a conductivity of the form σ = σ(R, ψ) (where R is the distance from the axis of symmetry), several classes of analytic equilibria with incompressible flows can be constructed having qualitatively plausible σ profiles, i.e. profiles with σ taking a maximum value close to the magnetic axis and a minimum value on the plasma surface. For σ = σ(ψ), consideration of the relation Δ*ψ = Vc σ(ψ) in the vicinity of the magnetic axis leads then to a proof of the non-existence of either compressible or incompressible equilibria. This result can be extended to the more general case of non-parallel flows lying within the magnetic surfaces.

A three-dimensional study of the pump depletion and self-focusing (hot spot) effect on stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) reflectivity is presented within the paraxial-ray approximation. The reflectivity of SRS is observed to exhibit a maximum value in the case of optimum SRS gain with pump depletion. The reflectivity with pump depletion is less than without pump depletion and is the usual three-wave interaction case. The effect of plasma temperature on SRS reflectivity is also discussed.

A complex stimulated Raman scattering event against a background of non-thermal ion acoustic waves in an inhomogeneous plasma is described. We obtain analytic forms for the Raman gain due to a five-wave interaction consisting of conventional three-wave Raman scattering followed by the decay of the Raman Langmuir wave into a second Langmuir wave (or a second scattered light wave) and an ion acoustic wave. Very modest levels of ion waves produce a significant effect on Raman convective gain. A combination of plasma inhomogeneity and suprathermal ion fluctuations may offer a means for the control of Raman gain.