MAGNETIC RECONNECTION IN THE DISC AND HALO

This paper presents some new ideas about magnetic fields in the interstellar medium. Movements due to the galactic fountain are analysed and interpreted in terms of their implications for a frozen-in interstellar magnetic field. We find that magnetic field lines will be drawn up into the halo (or thick disc) by expanding hot gas and, in falling back to a different position, there will be tangling and reconnecting effects. Also, under certain circumstances, a new sort of field amplification may occur in parts of the interstellar medium.