Power of Turbulent Reconnection: Star Formation, Acceleration of Cosmic
  Rays, Heat Transfer, Flares and Gamma Ray Bursts
  Turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical fluids. Therefore it is necessary
to study magnetic reconnection in turbulent environments. The model of fast
turbulent reconnection proposed in Lazarian & Vishniac 1999 has been
successfully tested numerically and it suggests numerous astrophysical
implications. Those include a radically new possibility of removing magnetic
field from collapsing clouds which we termed "reconnection diffusion",
acceleration of cosmic rays within shrinking filaments of reconnected magnetic
fields, flares of reconnection, from solar flares to much stronger ones which
can account for gamma ray bursts. In addition, the model reveals a very
intimate relation between magnetic reconnection and properties of strong
turbulence, explaining how turbulent eddies can transport heat in magnetized
plasmas. This is a small fraction the astrophysical implications of the
quantitative insight into the fundamental process of magnetic reconnection in
turbulent media.
