scholarly journals Study of magnetic field topology of active region 12192 using an extrapolated non-force-free magnetic field

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (S340) ◽  
pp. 81-82
Author(s):  
A. Prasad ◽  
R. Bhattacharyya ◽  
Q. Hu ◽  
S. S. Nayak ◽  
Sanjay Kumar

AbstractThe solar active region (AR) 12192 was one of the most flare productive region of solar cycle 24, which produced many X-class flares; the most energetic being an X3.1 flare on October 24, 2014 at 21:10 UT. Customarily, such events are believed to be triggered by magnetic reconnection in coronal magnetic fields. Here we use the vector magnetograms from solar photosphere, obtained from Heliospheric Magnetic Imager (HMI) to investigate the magnetic field topology prior to the X3.1 event, and ascertain the conditions that might have caused the flare. To infer the coronal magnetic field, a novel non-force-free field (NFFF) extrapolation technique of the photospheric field is used, which suitably mimics the Lorentz forces present in the photospheric plasma. We also highlight the presence of magnetic null points and quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) in the magnetic field topology, which are preferred sites for magnetic reconnections and discuss the probable reconnection scenarios.

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S320) ◽  
pp. 167-174
Author(s):  
M. S. Wheatland ◽  
S. A. Gilchrist

AbstractWe review nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) modeling of magnetic fields in active regions. The NLFFF model (in which the electric current density is parallel to the magnetic field) is often adopted to describe the coronal magnetic field, and numerical solutions to the model are constructed based on photospheric vector magnetogram boundary data. Comparative tests of NLFFF codes on sets of boundary data have revealed significant problems, in particular associated with the inconsistency of the model and the data. Nevertheless NLFFF modeling is often applied, in particular to flare-productive active regions. We examine the results, and discuss their reliability.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (S320) ◽  
pp. 175-178
Author(s):  
Toshifumi Shimizu ◽  
Satoshi Inoue ◽  
Yusuke Kawabata

AbstractThe spectro-polarimeter in the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) is one of the powerful instruments for the most accurate measurements of vector magnetic fields on the solar surface. The magnetic field configuration and possible candidates for flare trigger are briefly discussed with some SOT observations of solar flare events, which include X5.4/X1.3 flares on 7 March 2012, X1.2 flare on 7 January 2014 and two M-class flares on 2 February 2014. Especially, using an unique set of the Hinode and SDO data for the X5.4/X1.3 flares on 7 March 2012, we briefly reviewed remarkable properties observed in the spatial distribution of the photospheric magnetic flux, chromospheric flare ribbons, and the 3D coronal magnetic field structure inferred by non-linear force-free field modeling with the Hinode photospheric magnetic field data.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Wiegelmann ◽  
Takashi Sakurai

AbstractThe structure and dynamics of the solar corona is dominated by the magnetic field. In most areas in the corona magnetic forces are so dominant that all non-magnetic forces such as plasma pressure gradients and gravity can be neglected in the lowest order. This model assumption is called the force-free field assumption, as the Lorentz force vanishes. This can be obtained by either vanishing electric currents (leading to potential fields) or the currents are co-aligned with the magnetic field lines. First we discuss a mathematically simpler approach that the magnetic field and currents are proportional with one global constant, the so-called linear force-free field approximation. In the generic case, however, the relationship between magnetic fields and electric currents is nonlinear and analytic solutions have been only found for special cases, like 1D or 2D configurations. For constructing realistic nonlinear force-free coronal magnetic field models in 3D, sophisticated numerical computations are required and boundary conditions must be obtained from measurements of the magnetic field vector in the solar photosphere. This approach is currently a large area of research, as accurate measurements of the photospheric field are available from ground-based observatories such as the Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun and the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) and space-born, e.g., from Hinode and the Solar Dynamics Observatory. If we can obtain accurate force-free coronal magnetic field models we can calculate the free magnetic energy in the corona, a quantity which is important for the prediction of flares and coronal mass ejections. Knowledge of the 3D structure of magnetic field lines also help us to interpret other coronal observations, e.g., EUV images of the radiating coronal plasma.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Pomoell ◽  
Emilia Kilpua ◽  
Daniel Price ◽  
Eleanna Asvestari ◽  
Ranadeep Sarkar ◽  
...  

<p>Characterizing the detailed structure of the magnetic field in the active corona is of crucial importance for determining the chain of events from the formation to the destabilisation and subsequent eruption and propagation of coronal structures in the heliosphere. A comprehensive methodology to address these dynamic processes is needed in order to advance our capabilities to predict the properties of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in interplanetary space and thereby for increasing the accuracy of space weather predictions. A promising toolset to provide the key missing information on the magnetic structure of CMEs are time-dependent data-driven simulations of active region magnetic fields. This methodology permits self-consistent modeling of the evolution of the coronal magnetic field from the emergence of flux to the birth of the eruption and beyond. </p><p>In this presentation, we discuss our modeling efforts in which time-dependent data-driven coronal modeling together with heliospheric physics-based modeling are employed to study and characterize CMEs, in particular their magnetic structure, at various stages in their evolution from the Sun to Earth. </p>


Solar Physics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel T. Lee ◽  
Daniel S. Brown

AbstractMany phenomena in the Sun’s atmosphere are magnetic in nature and study of the atmospheric magnetic field plays an important part in understanding these phenomena. Tools to study solar magnetic fields include magnetic topology and features such as magnetic null points, separatrix surfaces, and separators. The theory of these has most robustly been developed under magnetic charge topology, where the sources of the magnetic field are taken to be discrete, but observed magnetic fields are continuously distributed, and reconstructions and numerical simulations typically use continuously distributed magnetic boundary conditions. This article investigates the pitfalls in using continuous-source descriptions, particularly when null points on the $z=0$ z = 0 plane are obscured by the continuous flux distribution through, e.g., the overlap of non-point sources. The idea of null-like points on the boundary is introduced where the parallel requirement on the field $B_{\parallel }=0$ B ∥ = 0 is retained but the requirement on the perpendicular component is relaxed, i.e. $B_{\perp }\ne 0$ B ⊥ ≠ 0 . These allow the definition of separatrix-like surfaces which are shown (through use of a squashing factor) to be a class of quasi-separatrix layer, and separator-like lines which retain the x-line structure of separators. Examples are given that demonstrate that the use of null-like points can reinstate topological features that are eliminated in the transition from discrete to continuous sources, and that their inclusion in more involved cases can enhance understanding of the magnetic structure and even change the resulting conclusions. While the examples in this article use the potential approximation, the definition of null-like points is more general and may be employed in other cases such as force-free field extrapolations and MHD simulations.


1990 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 17-19
Author(s):  
Li Zhongyuan

A few authors (Barnes and Sturrock, 1972; Ma, 1977; Svestka, 1977) have calculated the quantitative relationship between the static force-free field connecting the magnetic field and the twisting processes. They pointed out that the potential magnetic field without the current may be twisted into the force-free field with the enhanced current produced by the plasma rotation. Li et al. (1982) and Li and Hu (1984) have stated that the processes should be unsteady, and especially that they should not be static. The magnetic Reynold number is usually much larger than 100 in stellar atmosphere (Li et al., 1982). We adopt the following MHD equations: where the force - free factor α (t, r) depends on both, t and r. According to t h e kinematical momentum conservation, the following constraint is easily obtained: where V = (u, v, w) is the velocity field in the cylindrical coordinates. When studying the evolution of the kinematical force - free field, the in fluence of a reasonable flow on the variations of the magnetic field should be taken into account. After some reasonable simplification we deduce the specific expression of the variation law of the toroidal magnetic energy where J1 is the Bessel function of the first order. In the active region, magnetic energy including the term of a twisted effect f(t) is larger than that of the static force - free field.


2001 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 341-343
Author(s):  
Y. Yan

In this paper we describe the available methods for the non-constant-α force-free field reconstruction and study the associations between reconstructed 3-d coronal fields by a new technique and the 2B/X2 flare process from observations in AR 8100 on 4 November 1997.


1968 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 134-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Rayrole ◽  
M. Semel

To test the validity of the assumption of a ‘current-free’ magnetic field in the atmosphere above sunspots, we measured all three parameters of the magnetic field in an active region and compared it with the calculated current-free field according to the solution proposed by Schmidt. We found important differences between the calculated and the measured field.We refer to an earlier paper where the objections to the ‘current-free field’ were that the calculated field has too simple a configuration to account for the fine structure observed in Hα and other solar observations.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haimin Wang

<p>We study the Solar Active Region (AR) 12673 in September 2017, which is the most flare productive AR in the solar cycle 24.  Observations from Goode Solar Telescope (GST) show the strong photospheric magnetic fields (nearly 6000 G) in polarity  inversion line (PIL) and apparent photospheric twist on September 6,  the day of X9.3 flare. Corresponding to the strong twist,   upflows are observed to last one day  at the center part of that section of PIL;  down flows are observed in two ends.  Transverse velocity fields are derived from flow tracking.   Both Non-Linear Force-Free Field (NLFFF) and Non-Force-Free Field (NFFF) extrapolations are carried out and compared to trace 3-D magnetic fields in corona. Combining with EOVSA, coronal magnetic fields between 1000 and 2000 gauss are found above the flaring PIL at the height range between 8 and 4Mm, outlining the structure of a fluxrope with sheared arcade.  The above magnetic and velocity fields, as well as thermal structure of corona, provide initial condition for further data-driven MHD simulation.</p>


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