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1.
At the confluence of four regions of different magnetic connectivity lies a distinct topological candidate for coronal heating, namely the magnetic separator. In this study, a method for tracing separator curves is developed and the statistical properties of separators in coronal fields are subsequently explored by analysing a model field with an exponential source distribution, similar to that studied by Schrijver and Title (2002). Magnetic fields based on data from an observed sequence of MDI magnetograms are also considered as a case study. The picture that emerges is one in which there are many more magnetic separators than previously thought, since many separators arise from each null point. For an exponential source distribution, an average of 10.1±0.13 separators per null are found, of which 1.04±0.04 multiply link pairs of nulls (i.e., there is more than one separator linking such pairs of nulls). For the observed sequence of magnetograms, these figures are 7.63±0.2 and 0.99± 0.059, respectively. The results obtained here show that separators have a tendency to group together into trunks about a null. In the case of prone nulls, these trunks lie either normal to the photospheric surface or on it. It is also established that pairs of coronal nulls are frequently interconnected, suggesting that they may have been created by purely coronal bifurcations. 相似文献
2.
The photosphere possesses many small, intense patches of magnetic flux. Each of these patches (or sources) is connected magnetically through the corona to several sources of opposite polarity. An elemental flux loop consists of all of the flux joining one such source to another. We find that each source is connected to twenty other sources,
on average, and that the typical flux and diameter of elemental loops in the corona are 1016 Mx and 200 km; there are approximately 17 separators for each source. We also model a typical large-scale coronal loop consisting
of many elemental loops and determine its complex internal topology. Each upright null lies at the end of about 22 separatrices,
which tend to be clustered together in trunk-like structures, analogous to river-valleys in a geographical contour map. Prone
nulls correspond to saddle points, while their spines are analogous to watersheds. 相似文献
3.
In two dimensions magnetic energy release takes place at locations where the magnetic field strength becomes zero and has an x-point topology. The x-point topology can collapse into two y-points connected by a current sheet when the advection of magnetic flux into the x-point is larger than the dissipation of magnetic flux at the x-point. In three dimensions magnetic fields may also contain singularities in the form of three-dimensional null points. Three-dimensional nulls are created in pairs and are therefore, at least in the initial stages, always connected by at least one field line – the separator. The separator line is defined by the intersection of the fan planes of the two nulls. In the plane perpendicular to a single separator the field line topology locally has a two dimensional x-point structure. Using a numerical approach we find that the collapse of the separator can be initiated at the two nulls by a velocity shear across the fan plane. It is found that for a current concentration to connect the two nulls along the separator, the current sheet can only obtain two different orientations relative to the field line structure of the nulls. The sheet has to have an orientation midway between the fan plane and the spine axis of each null. As part of this process the spine axes are found to lose their identity by transforming into an integrated part of the separator surfaces that divide space into four magnetically independent regions around the current sheet. 相似文献
4.
We study the statistical properties of the connectivity of the corona over the quiet Sun by analyzing the potential magnetic field above the central area of source planes sprinkled randomly with some 300 magnetic monopoles each. We find that the field is generally more complex than one might infer from a study of the field within the source plane alone, or from a study of the 3D field around a small number of sources. Whereas a given source most commonly connects to only its nearest neighbors, it may connect to up to several dozen sources; only a weak trend relates the source strength and the number of connections. The connections between pairs of sources define volumes, or domains, of connectivity. Domains that have a finite cross section with the source plane are enclosed by surfaces that contain a pair of null points. In contrast, most of the bounding surfaces of domains that lie above the source plane appear not to contain null points. We argue that the above findings imply (i) that we should expect at best a weak correlation between coronal brightness and the flux in an underlying flux concentration, and (ii) that the low-lying chromospheric field lines (such as are observable in H) provide information on source connections that are largely complementary to those traced by the higher-reaching coronal field lines (observable in the extreme ultraviolet). We compare sample TRACE and SOHO/MDI observations of the quiet corona and photosphere with our finding that the number density of null points within the source plane closely matches that of the sources; because we find essentially no foci of coronal brightening away from significant photospheric magnetic flux concentrations, we conclude that coronal heating at such null points does not contribute significantly to the overall heating. We argue that the divergence of field lines towards multiple sources restricts the propagation of braids and twists, so that any coronal heating that is associated with the dissipation of braids induced by footpoint shuffling in mixed-polarity network is likely (a) to occur predominantly low in the corona, and (b) to be relatively more efficient in quiet Sun than in active regions for a given field strength and loop length. 相似文献
5.
Yun-Tung Lau 《Solar physics》1993,148(2):301-324
We study the magnetic field-line topology in a class of solar flare models with four magnetic dipoles. By introducing a series of symmetry-breaking perturbations to a fully symmetric potential field model, we show that isolated magnetic nulls generally exist above the photosphere. These nulls are physically important because they determine the magnetic topology above the photosphere. In some special cases, there may be a single null above the photosphere with quasi two-dimensional properties. For such a model, aquasi null line connects the null to the photosphere. In the limit of small non-ideal effects, boundary layers and current sheetsmay develop along the quasi null line and the associated separatrix surfaces. Field lines can then reconect across the quasi null line, as in two-dimensional reconnection. In a more general force-free case, the field contains a pair of nulls above the photosphere, with a field line (theseparator) connecting the two nulls. In the limit of small non-ideal effects, boundary layers and current sheets develop along the separator and the associated separatrix surfaces. The system exhibits three-dimensional reconnection across the separator, over which field lines exchange identity. The separatrices are related to preferable sites of energy release during solar flares. 相似文献
6.
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
7.
Magnetic topology has been a key to the understanding of magnetic energy re-lease mechanism. Based on observed vector magnetograms, we have determined the three-dimensional (3D) topology skeleton of the magnetic fields in the active region NOAA 10720.The skeleton consists of six 3D magnetic nulls and a network of corresponding spines, fans,and null-null lines. For the first time, we have identified a spiral magnetic null in Sun's corona.The magnetic lines of force twisted around the spine of the null, forming a 'magnetic wreath'with excess of free magnetic energy and resembling observed brightening structures at extra-ultraviolet (EUV) wavebands. We found clear evidence of topology eruptions which are re-ferred to as catastrophic changes of topology skeleton associated with a coronal mass ejection(CME) and an explosive X-ray flare. These results shed new lights on the structural complex-ity and its role in explosive magnetic activity. The concept of flux rope has been widely used in modelling explosive magnetic activity, although their observational identity is rather ob-scure or, at least, lacking of necessary details up to date. We suggest that the magnetic wreath associated with the 3D spiral null is likely an important class of the physical entity of flux ropes. 相似文献
8.
An ongoing debate is how magnetic energy is released in solar flares, which type of magnetic instabilities are responsible for triggering the energy release, and which magnetic topologies are most likely to host the instabilities. In this connection magnetic reconnection has been a general ingredient, with most of the previous work focussing on 2D reconnection. A natural extension to this is to investigate reconnection in 3D topologies, in particular the behaviour of magnetic nulls and the magnetic topology associated with them. This paper investigates the difference in dynamical behaviour of a numerical domain that either contains a double null-point pair connected by a separator or only a fraction of the separator defined by the null-points. The experiments show that nulls can either accumulate current individually, or act together to produce a singular current collapse along the separator. The implication of these results for the interpretation of coronal data is discussed. 相似文献
9.
The evolution of the solar corona is dominated to a large extent by the hugely complicated magnetic field which threads it.
Magnetic topology provides a tool to decipher the structure of this field and thus help to understand its behaviour. Usually,
the magnetic topology of a potential field is calculated due to flux sources on a locally planar photospheric surface. We
use a Green's function method to extend this theory to sources on a global spherical surface. The case of two bipolar flux-balanced
source regions is studied in detail, with an emphasis on how the distribution and relative strengths of the source regions
affect the resulting topological states. A new state with two spatially distinct separators connecting the same two magnetic
null points, called the “dual intersecting“ state, is discovered.
An erratum to this article is available at . 相似文献
10.
J. Büchner 《Astrophysics and Space Science》1998,264(1-4):25-42
Reconnection is the most efficient way to release the energy accumulated in the tense astrophysical magnetoplasmas. As such
it is a basic paradigm of energy conversion in the universe. Astrophysical reconnection is supposed to heat plasmas to high
temperatures, it drives fast flows, winds and jets, it accelerates particles and leads to structure formation. Reconnection
can take place only after a local breakdown of the plasma ideality, enabling a change of the magnetic connection between plasma
elements. After Giovanelli first suggested magnetoplasma discharges in 1946, reconnection has usually been identified with
vanishing magnetic field regions. However, for the last ten years a discussion has been going on about the structure of 3
D reconnection, e.g., whether in 3 D it is possible also without magnetic nulls or not. We first shortly review the relevant
magnetostatic and kinematic fluid theory results to argue than that a kinetic approach is necessary to reveal the generic
three-dimensional structure and dynamics of reconnection in collisionless astrophysical plasmas. We present results about
the 3 D structure of kinetic reconnection in initially antiparallel magnetic fields. They were obtained by selfconsistently
considering ion and electron inertia as well as dissipative wave-particle resonances. In this approach reconnection is a natural
consequence of the instability of thin current sheets. We present the results of a nonlocal linear dispersion theory and describe
the nonlinear evolution of the instability using numerical particle code simulations. The decay of thin current sheets directly
leads to a configurational instability and three-dimensional dynamic reconnection. We report the resulting generic magnetic
field structure. It contains pairs of magnetic nulls, connected by separating magnetic flux surfaces through which the plasma
flows and along which reconnection induces large parallel electric fields. Our results are illustrated by virtual reality
views and movies, both stored on the attached CD-ROM and also being available from the Internet.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
11.
The ability of magnetic reconnection solutions to explain statistical flare data is discussed. It is assumed that flares occur at well-defined, isolated sites within an active region, determined by the null points and separators of the coronal magnetic field (Craig, 2001). Statistical flare observations then derive from a multiplicity of independent sites, flaring in parallel, that produce events of widely varying output (Wheatland, 2002). Given that the `separator length' at an individual site controls the event frequency and the mean energy release, it is shown that the observed frequency-energy spectrum N(E)can be inverted to yield a source function that relates directly to the distribution of separator lengths. It is also pointed out that, under the parallel flaring model, inferred waiting-time distributions are naturally interpreted as a superposition of individual point processes. Only a modest number of flaring separators is required to mimic a Poisson process. 相似文献
12.
Dissipation of magnetic energy in the corona requires the creation of very fine scale-lengths because of the high magnetic Reynolds number of the plasma. The formation of current sheets is a natural possible solution to this problem and it is now known that a magnetic field that is stressed by continous photospheric motions through a series of equilibria can easily form such sheets. Furthermore, in a large class of 3D magnetic fields without null points there are locations, called quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs), where the field-line linkage changes drastically. They are the relevant generalisation of normal separatrices to configurations without nulls: along them concentrated electric currents are formed by smooth boundary motions and 3D magnetic reconnection takes place when the layers are thin enough. With a homogenous normal magnetic field component at the boundaries, the existence of thin enough QSL to dissipate magnetic energy rapidly requires that the field is formed by flux tubes that are twisted by a few turns. However, the photospheric field is not homogeneous but is fragmented into a large number of thin flux tubes. We show that such thin tubes imply the presence of a large number of very thin QSLs in the corona. The main parameter on which their presence depends is the ratio between the magnetic flux located outside the flux tubes to the flux inside. The thickness of the QSLs is approximately given by the distance between neighbouring flux tubes multiplied by the ratio of fluxes to a power between two and three (depending on the density of flux tubes). Because most of the photospheric magnetic flux is confined in thin flux tubes, very thin QSLs are present in the corona with a thickness much smaller than the flux tube size. We suggest that a turbulent resistivity is triggered in a QSL, which then rapidly evolves into a dynamic current sheet that releases energy by fast reconnection at a rate that we estimate to be sufficient to heat the corona. We conclude that the fragmentation of the photospheric magnetic field stimulates the dissipation of magnetic energy in the corona. 相似文献
13.
The magnetic field in the solar corona plays an important role in coronal heating, flaring activity and many other phenomena studied on the Sun. Magnetic topology is frequently used to understand complicated coronal magnetic fields. By calculating the skeleton of a field, it is possible to build up a sophisticated representation of the key elements of a field’s configuration. This paper determines a simple relation between the numbers of separators (X), coronal null points (Nc), flux domains (D) and flux sources (S) in such a configuration: D=X+S−Nc−1. This equation is used to explain the behaviour of some of the bifurcations found in Magnetic Charge Topology, and to show that a one-to-one relationship exists between the number of circuits in the domain graph and the augmented null graph. Finally, it is shown that in quiet-Sun regions, the number of separators is approximately proportional to the number of flux sources. 相似文献
14.
本文利用赣榆站所取得的色球精细结构资料，并采用了前苏联强磁场资料，逐日计算了１９９０年１０月１３日至１６日复合活动区ＮＯＡＡ６３０９在色球层的磁拓扑界线，并与色球精细结构资料作了比照，发现：亮谱斑或亮耀斑核均是位于界线上，或紧邻它．这个结果支持“重联是耀斑在释放能量时的主要过程，而重联发生在磁场的拓扑界面上”的观点． 相似文献
15.
We survey the observational data on infrared, optical and X-radiation sources associated with energetic cosmic events, and note the occurrence of an apparently preferred value of the spectral index,n=1, for the radiation continua. We review the essentials of standard synchrotron radiation theory; the conventional interpretation of the observational data in terms of an energy distribution of electrons injected into a constant, low valued magnetic field; and the somewhat unsatisfactory attempts that can be made to explain this electron energy distribution in terms of the Fermi acceleration mechanism. We examine the evidence for the presence in the radiation sources of high magnetic fields, which cause evolution of the synchrotron radiation power spectrum to occur. We work out the consequences of this evolution, and obtain a new form of synchrotron radiation theory, which we describe astime-integrated synchrotron radiation theory, the particular advantage of which is that it is able to give a unique value (n=1/2 of the spectral index for radiation produced by a single high energy electron, independently of the initial electron energy. We consider the consequences of there being a distribution of magnetic field values in a radiation source; and in particular we consider a uniform distribution (in which all values are equally probable), which is capable of producing the required spectral indexn=1. We show that this uniform distribution can be explained in terms of a model in which there exist condensations of material containing high magnetic fields and within which electrons can be generatedin situ, through the familiar pion production and decay processes. We also consider systems in which electrons in a radiation source have injection patterns that enable the radiation continua to be interpreted in terms of time-integrated synchrotron radiation theory, originally devised for a single electron. We apply these considerations to sources of optical and higher frequency radiation; we also show that they have limited application to certain types of radio source. We suggest in conclusion that the condensations that feature in our model could act as basic units of structure for complex radiation sources associated with different types of energetic cosmic event, and that therein could lie the clue to the evident similarity of their radiation continua. 相似文献
16.
We discuss the production of circular polarization in compact radio sources both by the intrinsic mechanism and by Faraday conversion. We pay particular attention to the magnetic field structure, considering partially ordered fields and Laing sheets, and distinguishing between uniform and unidirectional fields. (The latter can be constrained by flux conservation arguments.) In most cases, Faraday conversion is the more important mechanism. Conversion operates on Stokes U, which can be generated by internal Faraday rotation, or by magnetic field fluctuations, which can therefore produce circular polarization even in a pure pair plasma. We also show that the spectrum of circular polarization in an inhomogeneous jet can be quite different from that in a uniform source, being flat or even inverted. 相似文献
17.
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
18.
We extrapolated the 3-D fields above the photosphere, taking the observed photospheric magnetic fields in the active regions NOAA 6659 and 7321 as the boundary conditions of a linear force-free field model, and detected the singular points of the 2-D fields in a plane at the chromospheric level. These singular points can be described with the Poincaré index. Singular points with the index of +1 correspond to concentrations of magnetic flux, and those with the index of -1 to the saddle points in the plane. All of these singular points are connected by the lanes demarcating the 2-D magnetic cells in the plane. It has been confirmed that these saddle points are the intersections between separators and planes intersecting the 3-D fields. From comparisons between kernels of flares occurring in both regions and the saddle points, we found that there is a close morphological relationship between distributions of the saddle points and flare kernels. The main results are as follows: (a) The flare kernels tend to appear in areas with concentrating 2-D saddle points. (b) The morphology of the kernels is exactly confined by the lanes in the plane at chromospheric level. These facts seem favourable for the viewpoint that solar flares are closely related to magnetic separatrices and separators. 相似文献
19.
S.-I. Akasofu 《Planetary and Space Science》1984,32(11):1469-1496
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.
How common are magnetic null points in the highly complex magnetic field of the solar atmosphere? In this work we seek to model the magnetic structure of quiet regions by placing magnetic sources and sinks on a hexagonal network of supergranule cells to represent the intense magnetic fields that occur at the boundaries of these cells. The resulting potential coronal magnetic field is then computed analytically and searched numerically for magnetic null points, which are classified according to their types and spine directions. Two relations from the theory of vector fields relate the numbers of null points to the numbers of sources and sinks and these are used to check the numerical results. Previous results relating these quantities for monopolar and dipolar magnetic fields are described and a new one for a particular class of quadrupolar fields arising in this study is derived. We model a three-cell configuration and study the effects of increasing the strength of a central sink and of moving the central sink. A twelve-cell configuration is studied in lesser detail.
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