  We present results from the first self-consistent multi-fluid simulations of
chromospheric magnetic reconnection in a weakly ionized reacting plasma. We
simulate two dimensional magnetic reconnection in a Harris current sheet with a
numerical model which includes ion-neutral scattering collisions, ionization,
recombination, optically thin radiative loss, collisional heating, and thermal
conduction. In the resulting tearing mode reconnection the neutral and ion
fluids become decoupled upstream from the reconnection site, creating an excess
of ions in the reconnection region and therefore an ionization imbalance. Ion
recombination in the reconnection region, combined with Alfv\'{e}nic outflows,
quickly removes ions from the reconnection site, leading to a fast reconnection
rate independent of Lundquist number. In addition to allowing fast
reconnection, we find that these non-equilibria partial ionization effects lead
to the onset of the nonlinear secondary tearing instability at lower values of
the Lundquist number than has been found in fully ionized plasmas.These
simulations provide evidence that magnetic reconnection in the chromosphere
could be responsible for jet-like transient phenomena such as spicules and
chromospheric jets.
