磁场重联和日冕物质抛射

Basic processes of magnetic reconnection and observations of coronal mass ejection are introduced. A possible mechanism of CME caused by magnetic rcconnection in the current sheet of solar corona is suggested.     

Magnetic Relaxation and Particle Acceleration in a Flaring Twisted Coronal Loop

In the present work we aim to study particle acceleration in twisted coronal loops. For this purpose, an MHD model of magnetic reconnection in a linearly unstable twisted magnetic fluxtube is considered. Further, the electric and magnetic fields obtained in the MHD simulations are used to calculate proton and electron trajectories in the guiding-centre approximation. It is shown that particle acceleration in such a model is distributed rather uniformly along the coronal loop and the high-energy population remains generally neutral. It also follows from the model that the horizontal cross-section of the volume occupied by high-energy particles near the loop footpoints increases with time, which can be used as an observational proxy.     

日冕磁场和重联的射电信号

总结了近期用射电频谱仪（高时间和高频谱分辨）和野边山射电日像仪（高空间分辨）以及国内外其它空间和地面设备分析日冕磁场和重联的系列工作。主要结论可归纳为：1）在Dulk等人（1982）的近似下自恰计算射电爆发源区磁场的平行和垂直分量，并首次得到该磁场在日面的两雏分布。2）为了考虑非热电子低能截止的影响，必须采用更严格的回旋同步辐射理论来计算。结果表明：低能截止和日冕磁场对计算有明显的影响，而其它参数（包括背景温度、密度、高能截止和辐射方向）的影响均可忽略。因此，对低能截止和日冕磁场必须联立求解。3）射电爆发中的精细结构可能反映了射电爆发源比较靠近粒子加速（磁场重联）的区域，利用高时间和高频率分辨的频谱仪和高空间分辨的日像仪联合分析，可以确定精细结构的源区位置，从而确定粒子加速（磁场重联）的准确时间和地点。     

Multi-Wavelength Signatures of Magnetic Reconnection of a Flare-Associated Coronal Mass Ejection

The evolution of an X2.7 solar flare, that occurred in a complex β γ δ magnetic configuration region on 3 November 2003 is discussed by utilizing a multi-wavelength data set. The very first signature of pre-flare coronal activity is observed in radio wavelengths as a type III burst that occurred several minutes prior to the flare signature in Hα. This type III burst is followed by the appearance of a loop-top source in hard X-ray (HXR) images obtained from RHESSI. During the main phase of the event, Hα images observed from ARIES solar tower telescope, Nainital, reveal well-defined footpoint (FP) and loop-top (LT) sources. As the flare evolves, the LT source moves upward and the separation between the two FP sources increases. The co-alignment of Hα with HXR images shows spatial correlation between Hα and HXR footpoints, whereas the rising LT source in HXR is always located above the LT source seen in Hα. The evolution of LT and FP sources is consistent with the reconnection models of solar flares. The EUV images at 195 Å taken by SOHO/EIT reveal intense emission on the disk at the flaring region during the impulsive phase. Further, slow-drifting type IV bursts, observed at low coronal heights at two time intervals along the flare period, indicate rising plasmoids or loop systems. The intense type II radio burst at a time in between these type IV bursts, but at a relatively greater height, indicates the onset of CME and its associated coronal shock wave. The study supports the standard CSHKP model of flares, which is consistent with nearly all eruptive flare models. More importantly, the results also contain evidence for breakout reconnection before the flare phase.     

Flux Rope Formation Due to Shearing and Zipper Reconnection

Zipper reconnection has been proposed as a mechanism for creating most of the twist in the flux tubes that are present prior to eruptive flares and coronal mass ejections. We have conducted a first numerical experiment on this new regime of reconnection, where two initially untwisted parallel flux tubes are sheared and reconnected to form a large flux rope. We describe the properties of this experiment, including the linkage of magnetic flux between concentrated flux sources at the base of the simulation, the twist of the newly formed flux rope, and the conversion of mutual magnetic helicity in the sheared pre-reconnection state into the self-helicity of the newly formed flux rope.     

From Forbidden Coronal Lines to Meaningful Coronal Magnetic Fields

We review methods to measure magnetic fields within the corona using the polarized light in magnetic-dipole (M1) lines. We are particularly interested in both the global magnetic-field evolution over a solar cycle, and the local storage of magnetic free energy within coronal plasmas. We address commonly held skepticisms concerning angular ambiguities and line-of-sight confusion. We argue that ambiguities are, in principle, no worse than more familiar remotely sensed photospheric vector fields, and that the diagnosis of M1 line data would benefit from simultaneous observations of EUV lines. Based on calculations and data from eclipses, we discuss the most promising lines and different approaches that might be used. We point to the S-like [Fe xi] line (J=2 to J=1) at 789.2 nm as a prime target line (for the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) for example) to augment the hotter 1074.7 and 1079.8 nm Si-like lines of [Fe xiii] currently observed by the Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP). Significant breakthroughs will be made possible with the new generation of coronagraphs, in three distinct ways: i) through single-point inversions (which encompasses also the analysis of MHD wave modes), ii) using direct comparisons of synthetic MHD or force-free models with polarization data, and iii) using tomographic techniques.     

Particle Acceleration by a Time-Varying Electric Field in Merging Magnetic Fields

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.     

Plasma Heating by Forced Magnetic Reconnection

A model of forced magnetic reconnection in a force-free magnetic field is considered, which allows calculation of the magnetic energy release during the current sheet reconnection. The dependence of this energy on characteristics of the magnetic configuration has been studied, and it was found that the released energy becomes very large when the field is near the marginal tearing stability. A persistent plasma heating provided by ongoing external driving and internal reconnection is also derived. It shows a typical relaxation-type dependence on the driving frequency, with dissipation becoming most efficient when the time-scales of the driving and reconnection are comparable. Possible implications of the obtained results for the problem of solar coronal heating are discussed. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Heating the Solar Corona by Magnetic Reconnection

Here I review briefly the theory of magnetohydrodynamic reconnection and ask what observational evidence is there that it is heating the corona. In particular, the new directions in which three-dimensional theory for reconnection is heading are outlined. Part of the coronal heating problem has been solved with the identification of reconnection driven by converging flux motions as the key for x-ray bright points. Furthermore, it has been shown that the large-scale diffuse corona is heated rather uniformly, so that turbulent reconnection by braiding or ion-cyclotron waves driven by network micro-flares are prime candidates. Finally, reconnection is the natural explanation for a wide variety of phenomena discovered by SOHO including explosive events, blinkers, the magnetic carpet and even possibly tornadoes. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Coronal mass ejections: Acceleration and surface associations

The fact that eruptive-prominence associated coronal mass ejection events may be accelerated over significant heights and times in the corona complicates the determination of possible surface or low coronal associations. A specific example of one such eruptive-prominence associated event, that observed in both the inner and outer solar corona on August 5, 1980, is used to illustrate the magnitude of the uncertainty of determining an onset time of the ejection. It is noted that such uncertainties may influence statistically-determined associations.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation     

Magnetic Reconnection and Extraplanar Diffuse Ionized Gas

Photoionization by stars cannot be the only cause for the diffuseionized gas component in the distant halos of galaxies.Quasistationary localized magnetic reconnection can efficientlycontribute to the ionization of the extraplanar halo gas. The gas isheated and re-ionized in numerous current filaments fast enough tocompensate recombination. The necessary magnetic energy is provided bythe disk activity.     

磁场重联实验室模拟进展

磁场重联是空间等离子体和实验室等离子体中的常见现象,被认为是太阳耀斑和磁层亚暴的重要机制。实验室磁场重联的模拟研究已经有二十余年的历史,并且取得了一系列重要的结果。对几个主要的磁场重联实验装置进行了介绍,给出了各个装置的等离子体参数以及产生重联的方法,回顾了实验室研究中和太阳射电密切相关的几个问题。另外,以中国科技大学的线性磁化等离子体装置为基础,建立了国内首个磁场重联的实验装置,研制了实验中需要的诊断工具,并开展了初步的磁场重联实验。     

Analytic Magnetic Reconnection Solutions in Cylindrical Geometry

In this paper we present a new class of exact reconnection solutions in cylindrical geometry. We point out that in the case of planar reconnection there is a natural cylindrical analog to the Cartesian Dawson function model for the magnetic field. Although the resistive energy release scalings of these solutions mimic the Cartesian models an important new feature is the presence of curvature in the current sheet. We go on to show that these solutions can be generalized to three dimensions.     

无碰撞重联区中的混沌感应电阻

无碰撞磁场重联作为一种将磁能有效转化为等离子体动能和热能的机制,已经被广泛应用于解释太阳耀斑、地球磁暴等各类等离子体的爆发活动.然而,在无碰撞重联区中反常电阻的微观物理机制仍然是尚未解决的基本问题.在众多反常电阻的形成机制中,基于磁零点附近粒子轨道混沌性产生的混沌感应电阻,虽然不是最普遍流行的形成机制,但它的微观物理图像却是最为清晰的.回顾了无碰撞重联区中混沌感应电阻的早期研究和基本理论模型,介绍了关于混沌感应电阻研究的新进展并阐述了混沌感应电阻未来的研究方向.     

Coronal Magnetic Flux Rope Equilibria and Magnetic Helicity

1 INTRODUCTIONObservations show that the magnetic helicity of solar magnetic structures has a predominantsign in each hemisphere of the Sun, positive in the southern hemisphere and negative in thenorthern, regardless of the solar cycle (Rust, 1994). The magnetic helicity is strictly conservedin the frame of ideal MHD (WOltjer, 1958), and approximately conserved in the presence ofresistive dissipation and magnetic reconnection in a highly conductive plajsma (Taylor, 1974;Berger, 1984; H…     

Preliminary Results of Laboratory Simulation of Magnetic Reconnection

In the Linear Magnetized Plasma (LMP) device of University of Science and Technology of China and by exerting parallel currents on two parallel copper plates, we have realized the magnetic reconnection in laboratory plasma. With the emissive probes, we have measured the parallel (along the axial direction) electric field in the process of reconnection, and verified the dependence of reconnection current on passing particles. Using the magnetic probe, we have measured the time evolution of magnetic flux, and the measured result shows no pileup of magnetic flux, in consistence with the result of numerical simulation.     

An Improved Approach to Non-Force-Free Coronal Magnetic Field Extrapolation

We develop an approach to deriving the three-dimensional non-force-free coronal magnetic field from vector magnetograms. Based on the principle of minimum dissipation rate, a general non-force-free magnetic field is expressed as the superposition of one potential field and two constant-α (linear) force-free fields. Each is extrapolated from its bottom boundary data, providing the normal component only. The constant-α parameters are distinct and determined by minimizing the deviations between the numerically computed and measured transverse magnetic field at the bottom boundary. The boundary conditions required are at least two layers of vector magnetograms, one at the photospheric level and the other at the chromospheric level, presumably. We apply our approach to a few analytic test cases, especially to two nonlinear force-free cases examined by Schrijver et al. (Solar Phys. 235, 161, 2006). We find that for one case with small α parameters, the quantitative measures of the quality of our result are better than the median values of those from a set of nonlinear force-free methods. The reconstructed magnetic-field configuration is valid up to a vertical height of the transverse scale. For the other cases, the results remain valid to a lower vertical height owing to the limitations of the linear force-free-field solver. Because our method is based on the fast-Fourier-transform algorithm, it is much faster and easy to implement. We discuss the potential usefulness of our method and its limitations.     

Flux-Rope Twist in Eruptive Flares and CMEs: Due to Zipper and Main-Phase Reconnection

The nature of three-dimensional reconnection when a twisted flux tube erupts during an eruptive flare or coronal mass ejection is considered. The reconnection has two phases: first of all, 3D “zipper reconnection” propagates along the initial coronal arcade, parallel to the polarity inversion line (PIL); then subsequent quasi-2D “main-phase reconnection” in the low corona around a flux rope during its eruption produces coronal loops and chromospheric ribbons that propagate away from the PIL in a direction normal to it. One scenario starts with a sheared arcade: the zipper reconnection creates a twisted flux rope of roughly one turn (\(2\pi \) radians of twist), and then main-phase reconnection builds up the bulk of the erupting flux rope with a relatively uniform twist of a few turns. A second scenario starts with a pre-existing flux rope under the arcade. Here the zipper phase can create a core with many turns that depend on the ratio of the magnetic fluxes in the newly formed flare ribbons and the new flux rope. Main phase reconnection then adds a layer of roughly uniform twist to the twisted central core. Both phases and scenarios are modeled in a simple way that assumes the initial magnetic flux is fragmented along the PIL. The model uses conservation of magnetic helicity and flux, together with equipartition of magnetic helicity, to deduce the twist of the erupting flux rope in terms the geometry of the initial configuration. Interplanetary observations show some flux ropes have a fairly uniform twist, which could be produced when the zipper phase and any pre-existing flux rope possess small or moderate twist (up to one or two turns). Other interplanetary flux ropes have highly twisted cores (up to five turns), which could be produced when there is a pre-existing flux rope and an active zipper phase that creates substantial extra twist.