  Interchange reconnection is thought to play an important role in determining
the dynamics and material composition of the slow solar wind that originates
from near coronal hole boundaries. To explore the implications of this process
we simulate the dynamic evolution of a solar wind stream along a newly-opened
magnetic flux tube. The initial condition is composed of a piecewise continuous
dynamic equilibrium in which the regions above and below the reconnection site
are extracted from steady-state solutions along open and closed field lines.
The initial discontinuity at the reconnection site is highly unstable and
evolves as a Riemann problem, decomposing into an outward-propagating shock and
inward-propagating rarefaction that eventually develop into a classic N-wave
configuration. This configuration ultimately propagates into the heliosphere as
a coherent structure and the entire system eventually settles to a quasi-steady
wind solution. In addition to simulating the fluid evolution we also calculate
the time-dependent non-equilibrium ionization of oxygen in real time in order
to construct in situ diagnostics of the conditions near the reconnection site.
This idealized description of the plasma dynamics along a newly-opened magnetic
field line provides a baseline for predicting and interpreting the implications
of interchange reconnection for the slow solar wind. Notably, the density and
velocity within the expanding N-wave are generally enhanced over the ambient
wind, as is the O7+/O6+ ionization ratio, which exhibits a discontinuity across
the reconnection site that is transported by the flow and arrives later than
the propagating N-wave.
