  Magnetic reconnection is the most likely mechanism responsible for the high
temperature events that are observed in strongly magnetized locations around
the temperature minimum in the low solar chromosphere. This work improves upon
our previous work ["Magnetic Reconnection in Strongly Magnetized Regions of the
Low Solar Chromosphere", The Astrophysical Journal 852, 95 (2018) ] by using a
more realistic radiative cooling model computed from the OPACITY project and
the CHIANTI database. We find that the rate of ionization of the neutral
component of the plasma is still faster than recombination within the current
sheet region. For low $\beta$ plasmas, the ionized and neutral fluid flows are
well-coupled throughout the reconnection region resembling the single-fluid
Sweet-Parker model dynamics. Decoupling of the ion and neutral inflows appears
in the higher $\beta$ case with $\beta_0=1.46$, which leads to a reconnection
rate about three times faster than the rate predicted by the Sweet-Parker
model. In all cases, the plasma temperature increases with time inside the
current sheet, and the maximum value is above $2\times10^4$~K when the
reconnection magnetic field strength is greater than $500$~G. While the more
realistic radiative cooling model does not result in qualitative changes of the
characteristics of magnetic reconnection, it is necessary for studying the
variations of the plasma temperature and ionization fraction inside current
sheets in strongly magnetized regions of the low solar atmosphere. It is also
important for studying energy conversion during the magnetic reconnection
process when the hydrogen-dominated plasma approaches full ionization.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics