Reconnection,caused by nonexistence of force-free equilibria,as a mechanism for solar flares |
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| Authors: | K Jockers |
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| Institution: | (1) Sacramento Peak Observatory, AFCRL, Sunspot, NM, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | The two-dimensional force-free field equations are studied. The solar photosphere is considered as flat and infinitely extended and the magnetic field component perpendicular to the photosphere is prescribed as the field of a submerged line dipole, i.e. with two magnetic polarities divided by a straight infinitely long neutral line. In addition the shear of the field lines along the neutral line, i.e. the difference of the coordinate parallel to the neutral line of the two foot-points of a field line, is prescribed as a function f of the distance to the neutral line times a nonnegative constant  . The function f is zero at the neutral line, goes through a maximum and drops to zero at large distances from the neutral line. The case = 0 corresponds to the current-free field. An approximate solution is obtained by a test function method. It is shown that for certain choices of the function f there exists a maximum value of beyond which a steady continuation of the solution is impossible. This forces the field to jump to a state of lower energy. The potential field, for instance, is such a lower energy state. Since the shear was prescribed as a boundary condition, the jump of the magnetic field will always be accompanied by a field line reconnection. Even though the field calculated does not closely resemble the flare geometry it is speculated that discontinuities like this one may also occur in more realistic field configurations and may actually trigger the flare.An extended version of this paper is to be published elsewhere. |
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