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1.
We present a new model to explain how particles (solar energetic particles; SEPs), accelerated at a reconnection site that is not magnetically connected to the Earth, could eventually propagate along the well-connected open flux tube. Our model is based on the results of a low-β resistive magnetohydrodynamics simulation of a three-dimensional line-tied and initially current-free bipole, which is embedded in a non-uniform open potential field. The topology of this configuration is that of an asymmetric coronal null point, with a closed fan surface and an open outer spine. When driven by slow photospheric shearing motions, field lines, initially fully anchored below the fan dome, reconnect at the null point, and jump to the open magnetic domain. This is the standard interchange mode as sketched and calculated in 2D. The key result in 3D is that reconnected open field lines located in the vicinity of the outer spine keep reconnecting continuously, across an open quasi-separatrix layer, as previously identified for non-open-null-point reconnection. The apparent slipping motion of these field lines leads to formation of an extended narrow magnetic flux tube at high altitude. Because of the slip-running reconnection, we conjecture that if energetic particles would be traveling through, or be accelerated inside, the diffusion region, they would be successively injected along continuously reconnecting field lines that are connected farther and farther from the spine. At the scale of the full Sun, owing to the super-radial expansion of field lines below 3?R , such energetic particles could easily be injected in field lines slipping over significant distances, and could eventually reach the distant flux tube that is well-connected to the Earth.  相似文献   

2.
Various topological features, for example magnetic null points and separators, have been inferred as likely sites of magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration in the solar atmosphere. In fact, magnetic reconnection is not constrained to solely take place at or near such topological features and may also take place in the absence of such features. Studies of particle acceleration using non-topological reconnection experiments embedded in the solar atmosphere are uncommon. We aim to investigate and characterise particle behaviour in a model of magnetic reconnection which causes an arcade of solar coronal magnetic field to twist and form an erupting flux rope, crucially in the absence of any common topological features where reconnection is often thought to occur. We use a numerical scheme that evolves the gyro-averaged orbit equations of single electrons and protons in time and space, and simulate the gyromotion of particles in a fully analytical global field model. We observe and discuss how the magnetic and electric fields of the model and the initial conditions of each orbit may lead to acceleration of protons and electrons up to 2 MeV in energy (depending on model parameters). We describe the morphology of time-dependent acceleration and impact sites for each particle species and compare our findings to those recovered by topologically based studies of three-dimensional (3D) reconnection and particle acceleration. We also broadly compare aspects of our findings to general observational features typically seen during two-ribbon flare events.  相似文献   

3.
Using time dependent MHD simulations, we study the nature of three-dimensional magnetic reconnection in thin quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), in the absence of null points. This process is believed to take place in the solar atmosphere, in many solar flares and possibly in coronal heating. We consider magnetic field configurations which have previously been weakly stressed by asymmetric line-tied twisting motions and whose potential fields already possessed thin QSLs. When the line-tied driving is suppressed, magnetic reconnection is solely due to the self-pinching and dissipation of narrow current layers previously formed along the QSLs. A generic property of this reconnection process is the continuous slippage of magnetic field lines along each other, while they pass through the current layers. This is contrary to standard null point reconnection, in which field lines clearly reconnect by pair and abruptly exchange their connectivities. For sufficiently thin QSLs and high resistivities, the field line footpoints slip-run at super-Alfvénic speeds along the intersection of the QSLs with the line-tied boundary, even though the plasma velocity and resistivity are there fixed to zero. The slip-running velocities of a given footpoint have a well-defined maximum when the field line crosses the thinnest regions of the QSLs. QSLs can then physically behave as true separatrices on MHD time scales, since magnetic field lines can change their connections on time scales far shorter than the travel-time of Alfvén waves along them. Since particles accelerated in the diffusive regions travel along the field much faster than the Alfvén speed, slip-running reconnection may also naturally account for the fast motion of hard X-ray sources along chromospheric ribbons, as observed during solar flares. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at  相似文献   

4.

Crossings of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) at the Earth’s orbit are often associated with observations of anisotropic beams of energetic protons accelerated to energies from hundreds of keV to several MeV and above. A connection between this phenomenon and the occurrence of small-scale magnetic islands (SMIs) near reconnecting current sheets has recently been found. This study shows how pre-accelerated protons can be energized additionally due to oscillations of multiple SMIs inside the ripple of the reconnecting HCS. A model of the electromagnetic field of an oscillating 3D SMI with a characteristic size of ~0.001 AU is developed. A SMI is supposed to be bombarded by protons accelerated by magnetic reconnection at the HCS to energies from ~1keV to tens of keV. Numerical simulations have demonstrated that the resulting longitudinal inductive electric fields can additionally reaccelerate protons injected into a SMI. It is shown that there is a local “acceleration” region within the island in which particles gain energy most effectively. As a result, their average escape energies range from hundreds of keV to 2 MeV and above. There is almost no particle acceleration outside the region. It is shown that energies gained by protons significantly depend on the initial phase and the place of their entry into a SMI but weakly depend on the initial energy. Therefore, low-energy particles can be accelerated more efficiently than high-energy particles, and all particles can reach the total energy limit upon their escape from a SMI. It is also found that the escape velocity possesses a strong directional anisotropy. The results are consistent with observations in the solar wind plasma.

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5.
Given recent observational results of interchange reconnection processes in the solar corona and the theoretical development of the S-Web model for the slow solar wind, we extend the analysis of the 3D MHD simulation of interchange reconnection by Edmondson et al. (Astrophys. J. 707, 1427, 2009). Specifically, we analyze the consequences of the dynamic streamer-belt jump that corresponds to flux opening by interchange reconnection. Information about the magnetic field restructuring by interchange reconnection is carried throughout the system by Alfvén waves propagating away from the reconnection region, distributing the shear and twist imparted by the driving flows, including shedding the injected stress-energy and accumulated magnetic helicity along newly open fieldlines. We quantify the properties of the reconnection-generated wave activity in the simulation. There is a localized high-frequency component associated with the current sheet/reconnection site and an extended low-frequency component associated with the large-scale torsional Alfvén wave generated from the interchange reconnection field restructuring. The characteristic wavelengths of the torsional Alfvén wave reflect the spatial size of the energized bipolar flux region. Lastly, we discuss avenues of future research by modeling these interchange reconnection-driven waves and investigating their observational signatures.  相似文献   

6.
Motivated by the problem of magnetic reconnection in turbulent astrophysical plasmas with a strong magnetic field, in particular, in solar flares, we have calculated the probability of occurrence of various topological structures of three-dimensional reconnection at the null point of a random magnetic field. We have established that the peculiar nonaxisymmetric structure with six asymptotic directions, the six-tailed structure, also called the improper radial null, plays a dominant role. All the remaining structures, in particular, the axisymmetric ones (the proper radial nulls), occur with a much lower probability. The fundamental feature of the six-tailed structure is that at large distances it is approximately reduced to the classical two-dimensional X-type structure.  相似文献   

7.
Further results of a laboratory magnetic field line reconnection experiment are presented. In particular, it is found that the reconnection rate can be slowed by placing solid obstacles to impede the outflow of plasma from an x-type magnetic neutral point. Without the obstacles the reconnection rate is faster and more impulsive. The fastest reconnection event has strong similarities to solar flares and geomagnetic substorms. It is suggested that more stationary features of solar activity such as prominences may be the result of reconnection slowed by obstacles such as the photosphere.  相似文献   

8.
We study the magnetic field evolution and topology of the active region NOAA 10486 before the 3B/X1.2 flare of October 26, 2003, using observational data from the French–Italian THEMIS telescope, the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) onboard Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), the Solar Magnetic Field Telescope (SMFT) at Huairou Solar Observation Station (HSOS), and the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE). Three dimensional (3D) extrapolation of photospheric magnetic field, assuming a potential field configuration, reveals the existence of two magnetic null points in the corona above the active region. We look at their role in the triggering of the main flare, by using the bright patches observed in TRACE 1600 Å images as tracers at the solar surface of energy release associated with magnetic reconnection at the null points. All the bright patches observed before the flare correspond to the low-altitude null point. They have no direct relationship with the X1.2 flare because the related separatrix is located far from the eruptive site. No bright patch corresponds to the high-altitude null point before the flare. We conclude that eruptions can be triggered without pre-eruptive coronal null point reconnection, and the presence of null points is not a sufficient condition for the occurrence of flares. We propose that this eruptive flare results from the loss of equilibrium due to persistent flux emergence, continuous photospheric motion and strong shear along the magnetic neutral line. The opening of the coronal field lines above the active region should be a byproduct of the large 3B/X1.2 flare rather than its trigger.  相似文献   

9.
Litvinenko  Yuri E. 《Solar physics》2003,216(1-2):189-203
Traditional models for particle acceleration by magnetic reconnection in solar flares assumed a constant electric field in a steady reconnecting magnetic field. Although this assumption may be justified during the gradual phase of flares, the situation is different during the impulsive phase. Observed rapid variations in flare emissions imply that reconnection is non-steady and a time-varying electric field is present in a reconnecting current sheet. This paper describes exploratory calculations of charged particle orbits in an oscillating electric field present either at a neutral plane or a neutral line of two-dimensional magnetic field. A simple analytical model makes it possible to explain the effects of particle trapping and resonant acceleration previously noted by Petkaki and MacKinnon in a numerical simulation. As an application, electron acceleration to X-ray generating energies in impulsive solar flares is discussed within the context of the model.  相似文献   

10.
We simulate the likely noisy situation near a reconnection region by superposing many 2D linear reconnection eigenmodes. The superposition of modes on the steady state X-type magnetic field creates multiple X- and O-type neutral points close to the original neutral point and so increases the size of the non-adiabatic region. We study test particle trajectories of initially thermal protons in these fields. Protons become trapped in this region and are accelerated by the turbulent electric field to energies up to 1 MeV in time scales relevant to solar flares. Higher energies are achieved due to the interaction of particles with increasingly turbulent electric and magnetic fields.  相似文献   

11.
The solar wind is a magnetized flowing plasma that intersects the Earth's magnetosphere at a velocity much greater than that of the compressional fast mode wave that is required to deflect that flow. A bow shock forms that alters the properties of the plasma and slows the flow, enabling continued evolution of the properties of the flow on route to its intersection with the magnetopause. Thus the plasma conditions at the magnetopause can be quite unlike those in the solar wind. The boundary between this “magnetosheath” plasma and the magnetospheric plasma is many gyroradii thick and is surrounded by several boundary layers. A very important process occurring at the magnetopause is reconnection whereby there is a topological change in magnetic flux lines so that field lines can connect the solar wind plasma to the terrestrial plasma, enabling the two to mix. This connection has important consequences for momentum transfer from the solar wind to the magnetosphere. The initiation of reconnection appears to be at locations where the magnetic fields on either side of the magnetopause are antiparallel. This condition is equivalent to there being no guide field in the reconnection region, so at the reconnection point there is truly a magnetic neutral or null point. Lastly reconnection can be spatially and temporally varying, causing the region of the magnetopause to be quite dynamic.  相似文献   

12.
The magnetized solar wind carries a large amount of energy but only a small fraction of it enters the magnetosphere and powers its dynamics. Numerous observations show that the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is a key parameter regulating the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction. The main factor determining the amount of energy extracted from the solar wind flow by the magnetosphere is the plasma flow structure in the region adjacent to the sunward side of the magnetopause. While compared to the energy of the solar wind flow the IMF magnetic energy is relatively weak, it is considerably enhanced in a thin layer next to the dayside magnetopause variously called the plasma depletion layer or magnetic barrier. Important features of this barrier/layer are (i) a pile-up of the magnetic field with (ii) a concurrent decrease of density, (iii) enhancement of proton temperature anisotropy, (iv) asymmetry of plasma flow caused by magnetic field tension, and (v) characteristic wave emissions (ion cyclotron waves). Importantly, the magnetic barrier can be considered as an energy source for magnetic reconnection. While the steady-state magnetic barrier has been extensively examined, non-steady processes therein have only been addressed by a few authors. We discuss here two non-steady aspects related to variations of the magnetic barrier caused by (i) a north-to-south rotation of the IMF, and (ii) by pulses of magnetic field reconnection at the magnetopause. When the IMF rotates smoothly from north-to-south, a transition layer is shown to appear in the magnetosheath which evolves into a thin layer bounded by sharp gradients in the magnetic field and plasma quantities. For a given reconnection rate and calculated parameters of the magnetic barrier, we estimate the duration and length scale of a reconnection pulse as a function of the solar wind parameters. Considering a sudden decrease of the magnetic field near the magnetopause caused by the reconnection pulse, we study the relaxation process of the magnetic barrier. We find that the relaxation time is longer than the duration of the reconnection pulse for large Alfvén-Mach numbers.  相似文献   

13.
Priest  E.R.  Schrijver  C.J. 《Solar physics》1999,190(1-2):1-24
In this review paper we discuss several aspects of magnetic reconnection theory, focusing on the field-line motions that are associated with reconnection. A new exact solution of the nonlinear MHD equations for reconnective annihilation is presented which represents a two-fold generalization of the previous solutions. Magnetic reconnection at null points by several mechanisms is summarized, including spine reconnection, fan reconnection and separator reconnection, where it is pointed out that two common features of separator reconnection are the rapid flipping of magnetic field lines and the collapse of the separator to a current sheet. In addition, a formula for the rate of reconnection between two flux tubes is derived. The magnetic field of the corona is highly complex, since the magnetic carpet consists of a multitude of sources in the photosphere. Progress in understanding this complexity may, however, be made by constructing the skeleton of the field and developing a theory for the local and global bifurcations between the different topologies. The eruption of flux from the Sun may even sometimes be due to a change of topology caused by emerging flux break-out. A CD-ROM attached to this paper presents the results of a toy model of vacuum reconnection, which suggests that rapid flipping of field lines in fan and separator reconnection is an essential ingredient also in real non-vacuum conditions. In addition, it gives an example of binary reconnection between a pair of unbalanced sources as they move around, which may contribute significantly to coronal heating. Finally, we present examples in TRACE movies of geometrical changes of the coronal magnetic field that are a likely result of large-scale magnetic reconnection. Supplementary material to this paper is available in electronic form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1005248007615  相似文献   

14.
Litvinenko  Yuri E. 《Solar physics》2000,194(2):327-343
Electron and proton acceleration in reconnecting current sheets in electron-rich solar flares is considered. A significant three-dimensional magnetic field is assumed in the current sheet where the particles are accelerated by the DC electric field. The tearing instability of a pre-flare current sheet leads to the formation of multiple singular lines of magnetic field where the electric and magnetic fields are coaligned. Magnetized electrons are shown to be accelerated to a few tens of MeV before they leave the vicinity of a singular line. The acceleration time is estimated to be less than 10–3 s. By contrast, much heavier protons are unmagnetized and their energy gain is more modest. The model explains a high electron-to-proton ratio and the unusually intense gamma-ray continuum above 1 MeV observed in the electron-rich flares.  相似文献   

15.
Litvinenko  Yuri E. 《Solar physics》2003,212(2):379-388
Yohkoh observations strongly suggest that electron acceleration in solar flares occurs in magnetic reconnection regions in the corona above the soft X-ray flare loops. Unfortunately, models for particle acceleration in reconnecting current sheets predict electron energy gains in terms of the reconnection electric field and the thickness of the sheet, both of which are extremely difficult to measure. It can be shown, however, that application of Ohm's law in a turbulent current sheet, combined with energy and Maxwell's equations, leads to a formula for the electron energy gain in terms of the flare power output, the magnetic field strength, the plasma density and temperature in the sheet, and its area. Typical flare parameters correspond to electron energies between a few tens of keV and a few MeV. The calculation supports the viewpoint that electrons that generate the continuum gamma-ray and hard X-ray emissions in impulsive solar flares are accelerated in a large-scale turbulent current sheet above the soft X-ray flare loops.  相似文献   

16.
In the paper by Kliem, Karlický, and Benz (Astron. Astrophys. 360, 715, 2000) it was suggested, that plasmoids formed during the bursty regime of solar flare reconnection can be “visualised” in the radio spectra as drifting pulsating structures via accelerated particles trapped inside the plasmoid. In the present paper we investigate this idea in detail. First, simple statistical analysis supporting this hypothesis is presented. Then, by using the 2.5-D MHD (including gravity) model solar flare reconnection in the inhomogeneous, stratified atmosphere is simulated and the formation and subsequent ejection of the plasmoid is demonstrated. The ejected plasmoid, which is considered to be a trap for accelerated electrons, is traced and its plasma parameters are computed. To estimate the associated plasma radio emission we need to know locations of accelerated electrons and corresponding plasma frequencies. General considerations predict that these electrons should be distributed mainly along the magnetic separatrix surfaces and this was confirmed by using a particle-in-cell simulation. Finally, under some simplifying assumptions the model dynamic radio spectrum is constructed. The relation between the global frequency drift and the plasmoid motion in the inhomogeneous ambient atmosphere is studied. The results are discussed with respect to the observed drifting pulsation structures and their possible utilisation for flare magnetic field diagnostics.  相似文献   

17.
Quasi-electrostatic electron and ion-cyclotron instabilities are studied. The result indicates that the higher harmonic ion cyclotron instabilities (ICI) can be excited while the fast ions produced from reconnection are injected into a coronal loop. Part of the energetic ions can be dragged out of the magnetic mirror turning points and a negative plasma potential is generated. The plasma potential may directly accelerate the electrons up to the relativistic velocity within a short time. This acceleration is similar to the processes occurring in the magnetic mirror devices of controlled thermonuclear fusion. The spectrum and flux of accelerated electrons have also been obtained. Some observational results during the solar flare might be explained by this acceleration mechanism.  相似文献   

18.
19.
The presently prevailing theories of sunspots and solar flares rely on the hypothetical presence of magnetic flux tubes beneath the photosphere and the two subsequent hypotheses, their emergence above the photosphere and explosive magnetic reconnection, converting magnetic energy carried by the flux tubes for solar flare energy.In this paper, we pay attention to the fact that there are large-scale magnetic fields which divide the photosphere into positive and negative (line-of-sight) polarity regions and that they are likely to be more fundamental than sunspot fields, as emphasized most recently by McIntosh (1981). A new phenomenological model of the sunspot pair formation is then constructed by considering an amplification process of these largescale fields near their boundaries by shear flows, including localized vortex motions. The amplification results from a dynamo process associated with such vortex flows and the associated convergence flow in the largescale fields.This dynamo process generates also some of the familiar “force-free” fields or the “sheared” magnetic fields in which the magnetic field-aligned currents are essential. Upward field-aligned currents generated by the dynamo process are carried by downward streaming electrons which are expected to be accelerated by an electric potential structure; a similar structure is responsible for accelerating auroral electrons in the magnetosphere. Depending on the magnetic field configuration and the shear flows, the current-carrying electrons precipitate into different geometrical patterns, causing circular flares, umbral flares, two-ribbon flares, etc. Thus, it is suggested that “low temperature flares” are directly driven by the photospheric dynamo process.  相似文献   

20.
One of the most puzzling problems in astrophysics is to understand the anomalous resistivity in collisionless magnetic reconnection that is believed extensively to be responsible for the energy release in various eruptive phenomena. The magnetic null point in the reconnecting current sheet, acting as a scattering center, can lead to chaotic motions of particles in the current sheet, which is one of the possible mechanisms for anomalous resistivity and is called chaos-induced resistivity. In many interesting cases, however, instead of the magnetic null point, there is a nonzero magnetic field perpendicular to the merging field lines, usually called the guide field, whose effect on chaos-induced resistivity has been an open problem. By use of the test particle simulation method and statistical analysis, we investigate chaos-induced resistivity in the presence of a constant guide field. The characteristics of particle motion in the reconnecting region, in particular, the chaotic behavior of particle orbits and evolving statistical features, are analyzed. The results show that as the guide field increases, the radius of the chaos region increases and the Lyapunov index decreases. However, the effective collision frequency, and hence the chaos-induced resistivity, reach their peak values when the guide field approaches half of the characteristic strength of the reconnection magnetic field. The presence of a guide field can significantly influence the chaos of the particle orbits and hence the chaos-induced resistivity in the reconnection sheet, which decides the collisionless reconnection rate. The present result is helpful for us to understand the microphysics of anomalous resistivity in collisionless reconnection with a guide field.  相似文献   

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