  Measurements of temperature and density near supra-arcade current sheets
suggest that plasma on unreconnected field lines may experience some degree of
"pre-heating" and "pre-densification" prior to their reconnection. Models of
patchy reconnection allow for heating and acceleration of plasma along
reconnected field lines but do not offer a mechanism for transport of thermal
energy across field lines. Here we present a model in which a reconnected flux
tube retracts, deforming the surrounding layer of unreconnected field. The
deformation creates constrictions that act as peristaltic pumps, driving plasma
flow along affected field lines. Under certain circumstances these flows lead
to shocks that can extend far out into the unreconnected field, altering the
plasma properties in the affected region. These findings have direct
implications for observations in the solar corona, particularly in regard to
such phenomena as high temperatures near current sheets in eruptive solar
flares and wakes seen in the form of descending regions of density depletion or
supra-arcade downflows.
