DC coronal heating and the nonlinear evolution of current sheets

Earlier studies of the secondary instability were limited to systems with relatively simple perturbations, viz., resistive stability eigenmodes. A current sheet in the Sun is likely to be subject to much more complex perturbations involving a waves of various wavelengths and amplitudes. We describe the evolution of three-dimensional electric current sheets disturbed by random 3D perturbations. We find that the significant characteristics of secondary instability are also observed in this case. The numerical results are compared to solar observations.