Structure and dynamics of current sheets at Alfvén resonances in a differentially rotating plasma

Alfvén resonances, where the local flow speed relative to the boundary is equal to the local Alfvén speed, introduce novel dynamical features in a differentially rotating plasma. The spatial structure and dynamics of current sheets in such plasmas is investigated analytically as well as numerically. The current sheets at Alfvén resonances tend to power-law singularities. The growth of current sheets is algebraic in time in the linear regime and saturates in the presence of dissipation without the intervention of nonlinear effects. These results have significant implications for forced reconnection and Alfvén wave dissipation in laboratory and space plasmas.