共查询到20条相似文献，搜索用时 31 毫秒
1.
E. R. Priest 《Solar physics》1976,47(1):41-75
Current sheets have been suggested as the site for flare energy release because they can convert magnetic energy very rapidly into both heat and directed plasma energy. Also they contain electric fields with the potential of accelerating particles to high energies.The basic properties of current sheets are first reviewed. For instance, magnetic flux may be carried into a current sheet and annihilated. An exact solution for such a process in an infinitely long sheet has been found; it describes the annihilation of fields which are inclined at any angle, not just 180°. Moreover, field lines which are expelled from the ends of a current sheet can be described as having been reconnected. The only workable model for fast reconnection in the solar atmosphere, namely Petschek's mechanism, has recently been put on a firm foundation; it gives a reconnection rate which depends on the electrical conductivity but is typically a tenth or a hundredth of the Alfvén speed. A current sheet may be formed when the sources of an initially potential field start to move; a simple analytic technique for finding the position and shape of such a sheet in two dimensions now exists. Finally, a sheet with no transverse magnetic field component is subject to the tearing-mode instability, which rapidly produces a series of loops in the field.The main ways in which current sheets have been used for solar flare models is described. Syrovatskii's mechanism relies on the increase of the electric current density during the formation of a sheet, to a value in excess of the critical value j
* for the onset of microinstabilities. But Anzer has recently demonstrated that the critical value is most unlikely to be reached during the initial formation process. Sturrock, on the other hand, has advocated the occurrence of the tearing-mode instability in an open streamer-like configuration (which may result from the eruption of a force-free field). But recent observations do not point to that as the relevant configuration. Rather, they suggest that flares are triggered by the emergence of new magnetic flux from below the solar photosphere. This has led Heyvaerts, Priest, and Rust (1976) to propose a new emerging flux model, according to which, as more and more flux emerges, so reconnection occurs, producing some preflare heating. When the current sheet reaches such a height (around the transition region) that its current density exceeds j
*, then the impulsive phase of the flare is triggered. The main phase is caused by an enhanced level of magnetic energy conversion in a turbulent current sheet. The type of flare depends on the magnetic environment in which the emerging flux finds itself. A surge flare results if the flux appears near a strong unipolar region such as a simple sunspot, whereas a two ribbon flare may be produced by flux emergence near an active region filament, in which case the main phase energy is released from the field that surrounds the filament. 相似文献
2.
The physical conditions in a stationary flow of the Petchek type, allowing reconnection between flux emerging from below the solar photosphere and a preexisting magnetic field, are discussed. It is shown that, when rising in the solar atmosphere, the reconnection region has at first a rather low temperature as compared with its environment. Above a certain critical height, however, this low temperature thermal equilibrium often ceases to be possible, and the sheet rapidly heats, seeking a new thermal equilibrium. During this dynamical process, current-driven microinstabilities may be triggered in the current sheet, giving rise to an enhanced resistivity. High energy particles might be produced by the induced electric field developed during the rapid readjustment of MHD flows that results from this change in the transport properties of the plasma. 相似文献
3.
We present a simplified analytic model of a quadrupolar magnetic field and flux rope to model coronal mass ejections. The model magnetic field is two-dimensional, force-free and has current only on the axis of the flux rope and within two current sheets. It is a generalization of previous models containing a single current sheet anchored to a bipolar flux distribution. Our new model can undergo quasi-static evolution either due to changes at the boundary or due to magnetic reconnection at either current sheet. We find that all three kinds of evolution can lead to a catastrophe, known as loss of equilibrium. Some equilibria can be driven to catastrophic instability either through reconnection at the lower current sheet, known as tether cutting, or through reconnection at the upper current sheet, known as breakout. Other equilibria can be destabilized through only one and not the other. Still others undergo no instability, but they evolve increasingly rapidly in response to slow steady driving (ideal or reconnective). One key feature of every case is a response to reconnection different from that found in simpler systems. In our two-current-sheet model a reconnection electric field in one current sheet causes the current in that sheet to increase rather than decrease. This suggests the possibility for the microscopic reconnection mechanism to run away. 相似文献
4.
A major solar active event called Bastille Day Event occurred in AR 9077 on July 14, 2000. Simultaneous occurrence of a filament
eruption, a flare and a coronal mass ejection was observed in this event. Previous analyses of this event show that before
the event, there existed an activation and eruption of a huge trans-equatorial filament, which might play a crucial role in
triggering the Bastille Day event. This implies that independent flux systems are closely related to and affect each other,
which has encouraged us to investigate the catastrophic behavior of a multiple coronal flux rope system with the use of a
2.5-D time-dependent MHD model. A force-free field that contains three separate coronal flux ropes is taken to be the initial
state. Starting from this state, we increase either the annular or the axial flux of a certain flux rope to examine the catastrophic
behavior of the system in two regimes, the ideal MHD regime and the resistive MHD regime. It is found that a catastrophe occurs
if the flux exceeds a certain critical value, or the magnetic energy of the system exceeds a certain threshold: the rope of
interest breaks away from the base and escapes to infinity, leaving a current sheet below. Moreover, the destiny of the remainder
flux ropes relies on whether reconnection takes place across the current sheet. In the ideal MHD regime, i.e., in the absence of reconnection, these ropes remain to be attached to the base in equilibrium, whereas in the resistive MHD
regime they abruptly erupt upward during reconnection and escape to infinity. Reconnection causes the field lines to close
back to the base and thus changes the background field outside the attached flux ropes in such a way that the constraint on
these ropes is substantially relaxed and the corresponding catastrophic energy threshold is reduced accordingly, leading to
a catastrophic eruption of these ropes. Since magnetic reconnection is generally inevitable when a current sheet forms and
develops through an eruption of one flux rope, the eruption of this flux rope must lead to an eruption of the others. This
provides an example to demonstrate the interaction between several independent magnetic flux systems in different regions,
as implied by the Bastille Day event, and may serve as a possible mechanism for sympathetic events occurring on the Sun. 相似文献
5.
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
6.
Govind Dubey Bart van der Holst Stefaan Poedts 《Journal of Astrophysics and Astronomy》2006,27(2-3):159-166
The initiation of solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) is studied in the framework of numerical magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).
The initial CME model includes a magnetic flux rope in spherical, axi-symmetric geometry. The initial configuration consists
of a magnetic flux rope embedded in a gravitationally stratified solar atmosphere with a background dipole magnetic field.
The flux rope is in equilibrium due to an image current below the photosphere. An emerging flux triggering mechanism is used
to make this equilibrium system unstable. When the magnetic flux emerges within the filament below the flux rope, this results
in a catastrophic behavior similar to previous models. As a result, the flux rope rises and a current sheet forms below it.
It is shown that the magnetic reconnection in the current sheet below the flux rope in combination with the outward curvature
forces results in a fast ejection of the flux rope as observed for solar CMEs. We have done a parametric study of the emerging
flux rate. 相似文献
7.
The resistive MHD equations are numerically solved in two dimensions for an initial-boundary-value problem which simulates reconnection between an emerging magnetic flux region and an overlying coronal magnetic field. The emerging region is modelled by a cylindrical flux tube with a poloidal magnetic field lying in the same plane as the external, coronal field. The plasma betas of the emerging and coronal regions are 1.0 and 0.1, respectively, and the magnetic Reynolds number for the system is 2 × 103. At the beginning of the simulation the tube starts to emerge through the base of the rectangular computational domain, and, when the tube is halfway into the computational domain, its position is held fixed so that no more flux of plasma enters through the base. Because the time-scale of the emergence is slower than the Alfvén time-scale, but faster than the reconnection time-scale, a region of closed loops forms at the base. These loops are gradually opened and reconnected with the overlying, external magnetic field as time proceeds.The evolution of the plasma can be divided into four phases as follows: First, an initial, quasi-steady phase during which most of the emergence is completed. During this phase, reconnection initially occurs at the slow rate predicted by the Sweet model of diffusive reconnection, but increases steadily until the fast rate predicted by the Petschek model of slow-shock reconnection is approached. Second, an impulsive phase with large-scale, super-magnetosonic flows. This phase appears to be triggered when the internal mechanical equilibrium inside the emerging flux tube is upset by reconnection acting on the outer layers of the flux tube. During the impulsive phase most of the flux tube pinches off from the base to form a cylindrical magnetic island, and temporarily the reconnection rate exceeds the steady-state Petschek rate. (At the time of the peak reconnection rate, the diffusion region at the X-line is not fully resolved, and so this may be a numerical artifact.) Third, a second quasi-steady phase during which the magnetic island created in the impulsive phase is slowly dissipated by continuing, but low-level, reconnection. And fourth, a static, non-evolving phase containing a potential, current-free field and virtually no flow.During the short time in the impulsive phase when the reconnection rate exceeds the steady-state Petschek rate, a pile-up of magnetic flux at the neutral line occurs. At the same time the existing Petschek-slow-mode shocks are shed and replaced by new ones; and, for a while, both new and old sets of slow shocks coexist. 相似文献
8.
S. I. Syrovatskii 《Solar physics》1982,76(1):3-20
A model is presented for the penetration into the corona of a new magnetic field of a developing bipolar region and for its interaction with an old large-scale coronal field. An important feature of the model is a reconnection of the old and new fields inside the current sheet arising along the zero line of the total magnetic field calculated in the potential approximation. The magnetic reconnection and accumulation of plasma inside the current sheet can explain the appearance of dense coronal loops and the energy source at their tops. The plasma together with the magnetic lines is flowed into the sheet from both its sides. This fact explains the appearance of coronal cavities above the loops. If the large-scale field gradually decreases with the height, the loop motion is slowed down. The account of the dipolar structure of the magnetic field at large heights explains the possibility of a rapid break of the new field through the corona and the appearance of transients and open field regions - the coronal holes. In this case a fast rising current sheet can be a source of accelerated particles and of type II radio burst, instead of the shock wave considered usually. 相似文献
9.
Lucas A. Tarr Dana W. Longcope David E. McKenzie Keiji Yoshimura 《Solar physics》2014,289(9):3331-3349
When magnetic flux emerges from beneath the photosphere, it displaces the preexisting field in the corona, and a current sheet generally forms at the boundary between the old and new magnetic domains. Reconnection in the current sheet relaxes this highly stressed configuration to a lower energy state. This scenario is most familiar and most often studied in flares, where the flux transfer is rapid. We present here a study of steady, quiescent flux transfer occurring at a rate three orders of magnitude lower than that in a large flare. In particular, we quantify the reconnection rate and the related energy release that occurred as the new polarity emerged to form NOAA Active Region 11112 (SOL16 October 2010T00:00:00L205C117) within a region of preexisting flux. A bright, low-lying kernel of coronal loops above the emerging polarity, observed with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the X-ray Telescope onboard Hinode, originally showed magnetic connectivity only between regions of newly emerged flux when overlaid on magnetograms from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager. Over the course of several days, this bright kernel advanced into the preexisting flux. The advancement of an easily visible boundary into the old flux regions allows measuring the rate of reconnection between old and new magnetic domains. We compare the reconnection rate with the inferred heating of the coronal plasma. To our knowledge, this is the first measurement of steady, quiescent heating related to reconnection. We determined that the newly emerged flux reconnects at a fairly steady rate of 0.38×1016 Mx?s?1 over two days, while the radiated power varies between (2?–?8)×1025 erg?s?1 over the same time. We found that as much as 40 % of the total emerged flux at any given time may have reconnected. The total amounts of transferred flux (～?1×1021 Mx) and radiated energy (～?7.2×1030 ergs) are comparable to that of a large M- or small X-class flare, but are stretched out over 45 hours. 相似文献
10.
Two-dimensional stationary magnetic reconnection models that include a thin Syrovatskii-type current sheet and four discontinuous
magnetohydrodynamic flows of finite length attached to its endpoints are considered. The flow pattern is not specified but
is determined from a self-consistent solution of the problem in the approximation of a strong magnetic field. Generalized
analytical solutions that take into account the possibility of a current sheet discontinuity in the region of anomalous plasma
resistivity have been found. The global structure of the magnetic field in the reconnection region and its local properties
near the current sheet and attached discontinuities are studied. In the reconnection regime in which reverse currents are
present in the current sheet, the attached discontinuities are trans-Alfvénic shock waves near the current sheet endpoints.
Two types of transitions from nonevolutionary shocks to evolutionary ones along discontinuous flows are shown to be possible,
depending on the geometrical model parameters. The relationship between the results obtained and numerical magnetic reconnection
experiments is discussed. 相似文献
11.
E. C. Bowers 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1973,24(2):349-369
In an earlier paper, Bowers (1973), ion plasma oscillations were found to be unstable in the steady state developed by Cowley
(1972) for the neutral sheet in the Earth's geomagnetic tail. In this paper a similar stability analysis is carried out but
for a different steady state, suggested by Dungey, with the result that unstable waves with frequencies near the electron
plasma frequency are found. In the Dungey steady state the current necessary for magnetic field reversal is carried by plasma
originating from both the magnetosheath and the lobes of the tail. This modifies the steady state proposed by Alfvén and subsequently
developed by Cowley in which all the current is carried by plasma from the lobes of the tail thereby fixing the cross-tail
potential Φ. With magnetosheath plasma present the value of Φ is no longer fixed solely by parameters in the lobes of the
tail but the cross-tail electric field is still assumed localised in the dusk region of the sheet as in the Cowley model due
to the balance of charge required in the neutral sheet. The value of Φ can be expected to increase as magnetic flux is transported
to the tail which inflates and causes flux annihilation because the magneto-sheath plasma in the neutral sheet has insufficient
pressure to keep the two lobes of the tail apart. The Vlasov-Maxwell set of equations is perturbed and linearised enabling
a critical condition for instability to be found for modes propagating across the tail. Typically, this condition requireseΦ≳KT
m
whereT
m
is the temperature of magnetosheath electrons. The instability occurs in the presence of cold plasma which hasE×B drifted into the neutral sheet from the lobes of the tail. This contrasts with the usual two stream instability which is
stabilised by the cold plasma. Once precipitated the instability may be explosive provided current disruption occurs, for
then a further increase in Φ will result which drives a greater range of wave numbers unstable thereby causing even more turbulence
and an even larger cross-tail electric field. Because of this behaviour the instability may be a trigger for a substorm. 相似文献
12.
A recent discovery from the Big Bear Solar Observatory has linked the cancellation of opposite polarity magnetic fragments in the photosphere (i.e., so-called cancelling magnetic features) to X-ray bright points and has stimulated the setting up of a converging flux model for the process. Cancelling magnetic features can occur between magnetic fragments of differing strengths in many different situations. Here, therefore, we model two opposite polarity fragments of different strengths in the photosphere by two unequal sources in an overlying uniform field. Initially in thepre-interaction phase these sources are assumed to be unconnected, but as they move closer together theinteraction phase starts with an X-type neutral point forming, initially on the photosphere, then rising up into the chromosphere and corona before lowering back down to the photosphere. Thecapture phase then follows with the sources fully connected as they move together. Finally, after they come in to contact, during thecancellation phase the weaker source is cancelled by part of the stronger source. The height of the X-type neutral point varies with the separation of the sources and the ratio of the source strengths, as do the positions of the neutral points before connection and after complete reconnection of the two sources. The neutral point is the location of magnetic reconnection and therefore energy release which is believed to power the X-ray bright point in the corona. By using a current sheet approximation, where it is assumed no reconnection takes place as the two sources move together, the total amount of energy released during reconnection may be estimated. The typical total free magnetic energy is found to be of the order of 1020–1021 J, which is as required for an X-ray bright point. It is also found that, as the ratio of the source strengths increases, the height of the X-type neutral point decreases, as do the total energy released, and the lifetime of the bright point. 相似文献
13.
Magnetic field enters the corona from the interior of the Sun through isolated magnetic features on the solar surface. These features correspond to the tops of submerged magnetic flux tubes, and coronal field lines often connect one flux tube to another, defining a pattern of inter-linkage. Using a model field, in which flux tubes are represented as point magnetic charges, it is possible to quantify this inter-linkage. If the coronal field were current-free then motions of the magnetic features would change the inter-linkage through implicit (vacuum) magnetic reconnection. Without reconnection the conductive corona develops currents to avoid changing the flux linkage. This current forms singular layers (ribbons) flowing along topologically significant field lines called separators. Current ribbons store magnetic energy as internal stress in the field: the amount of energy stored is a function of the flux tube displacement. To explore this process we develop a model called the minimum-current corona (MCC) which approximates the current arising on a separator in response to displacement of photospheric flux. This permits a model of the quasi-static evolution of the corona above a complex active region. We also introduce flaring to rapidly change the flux inter-linkage between magnetic features when the internal stress on a separator becomes too large. This eliminates the separator current and releases the energy stored by it. Implementation of the MCC in two examples reveals repeated flaring during the evolution of simple active regions, releasing anywhere from 1027–1029 ergs, at intervals of hours. Combining the energy and frequency gives a general expression for heat deposition due to flaring (i.e., reconnection). 相似文献
14.
M. J. Owens 《Solar physics》2009,260(1):207-217
Magnetic clouds are a class of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (CME) predominantly characterised by a smooth rotation
in the magnetic field direction, indicative of a magnetic flux rope structure. Many magnetic clouds, however, also contain
sharp discontinuities within the smoothly varying magnetic field, suggestive of narrow current sheets. In this study we present
observations and modelling of magnetic clouds with strong current sheet signatures close to the centre of the apparent flux
rope structure. Using an analytical magnetic flux rope model, we demonstrate how such current sheets can form as a result
of a cloud’s kinematic propagation from the Sun to the Earth, without any external forces or influences. This model is shown
to match observations of four particular magnetic clouds remarkably well. The model predicts that current sheet intensity
increases for increasing CME angular extent and decreasing CME radial expansion speed. Assuming such current sheets facilitate
magnetic reconnection, the process of current sheet formation could ultimately lead a single flux rope becoming fragmented
into multiple flux ropes. This change in topology has consequences for magnetic clouds as barriers to energetic particle propagation. 相似文献
15.
Energy accumulation in a current sheet (CS) can occur during the injection of a fast plasma jet in a perpendicular magnetic field. A similar situation can occur in the solar corona when a flux of plasma appears under a magnetic arch. The flare can be produced at the CS disruption. The CS creation during plasma jet interaction with the magnetic field is demonstrated by numerical MHD simulation. The choice of dimensionless parameters Re, Rem,, II, which are suitable for simulation of coronal phenomena, is discussed. When jet injection ceases, the CS evolution produces an unstable state and fast magnetic energy dissipation is observed. 相似文献
16.
We determine the photospheric boundary conditions which maximize the magnetic energy released by a loss of ideal-MHD equilibrium
in two-dimensional flux-rope models. In these models a loss of equilibrium causes a transition of the flux rope to a lower
magnetic energy state at a higher altitude. During the transition a vertical current sheet forms below the flux rope, and
reconnection in this current sheet releases additional energy. Here we compute how much energy is released by the loss of
equilibrium relative to the total energy release. When the flux-rope radius is small compared to its height, it is possible
to obtain general solutions of the Grad-Shafranov equation for a wide range of boundary conditions. Variational principles
can then be used to find the particular boundary condition which maximizes the magnetic energy released for a given class
of conditions. We apply this procedure to a class of models known as cusp-type catastrophes, and we find that the maximum
energy released by the loss of equilibrium is 20.8% of the total energy release for any model in this class. If the additional
restriction is imposed that the photospheric magnetic field forms a simple arcade in the absence of coronal currents, then
the maximum energy release reduces to 8.6%. 相似文献
17.
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
18.
We employ a 2 1/2-dimensional reconnection model to analyse different aspects of the energy release in two-ribbon flares. In particular, we investigate in which way the systematic change of inflow region variables, associated with the vertical elongation of current sheet, affects the flare evolution. It is assumed that as the transversal magnetic field decreases, the ambient plasma-to-magnetic pressure ratio increases, and the reconnection rate diminishes. As the transversal field decreases due to the arcade stretching, the energy release enhances and the temperature rises. Furthermore, the magnetosonic Mach number of the reconnection outflow increases, providing the formation of fast mode standing shocks above the flare loops and below the erupting flux rope. Eventually, in the limit of a very small transversal field the reconnection becomes turbulent due to a highly non-linear response of the system to small fluctuations of the transversal field. The turbulence results in the energy release fragmentation which increases the release efficiency, and is likely to be responsible for the impulsive phase of the flare. On the other hand, as the current sheet stretches to larger heights, the ambient plasma-to-magnetic pressure ratio increases which causes a gradual decrease of the reconnection rate, energy release rate, and temperature in the late phase of flare. The described magnetohydrodynamical changes affect also the electron distribution function in space and time. At large reconnection rates (impulsive phase of the flare) the ratio of the inflow-to-outflow magnetic field strength is much smaller than at lower reconnection rates (late phase of the flare), i.e., the corresponding loss-cone angle becomes narrower. Consequently, in the impulsive phase a larger fraction of energized electrons can escape from the current sheet downwards to the chromosphere and upwards into the corona – the dominant flare features are the foot-point hard X-ray sources and type III radio bursts. On the other hand, at low reconnection rates, more particles stay trapped in the outflow region, and the thermal conduction flux becomes strongly reduced. As a result, a superhot loop-top, and above-the-loop plasma appears, as sometimes observed, to be a dominant feature of the gradual phase. 相似文献
19.
20.
The role of null-point reconnection in a three-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of solar emerging flux
is investigated. The model consists of a twisted magnetic flux tube rising through a stratified convection zone and atmosphere
to interact and reconnect with a horizontal overlying magnetic field in the atmosphere. Null points appear as the reconnection
begins and persist throughout the rest of the emergence, where they can be found mostly in the model photosphere and transition
region, forming two loose clusters on either side of the emerging flux tube. Up to 26 nulls are present at any one time, and
tracking in time shows that there is a total of 305 overall, despite the initial simplicity of the magnetic field configuration.
We find evidence for the reality of the nulls in terms of their methods of creation and destruction, their balance of signs,
their long lifetimes, and their geometrical stability. We then show that due to the low parallel electric fields associated
with the nulls, null-point reconnection is not the main type of magnetic reconnection involved in the interaction of the newly
emerged flux with the overlying field. However, the large number of nulls implies that the topological structure of the magnetic
field must be very complex and the importance of reconnection along separators or separatrix surfaces for flux emergence cannot
be ruled out. 相似文献