The determination of coronal potential magnetic fields using line-of-sight boundary conditions

Previous efforts to construct solar coronal fields using surface magnetograph data have generally employed a least squares minimization technique in order to determine the spherical harmonic expansion coefficients of the magnetic scalar potential. Provided there is no source surface high up in the corona, we show that knowledge of the line-of-sight component of the surface magnetic field, B _i = B _r sin + B cos , is sufficient to uniquely determine the potential coronal magnetic field by an explicit construction of the magnetic scalar potential for an arbitrary B _l (, ).The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.     

A comparison of type III metric radio bursts and global solar potential field models

We compare evidence of coronal magnetic fields from polarized metric type III radio bursts with (a) global potential field models, (b) direct averages of the observed photospheric magnetic field, and (c) H synoptic charts. The comparison clearly indicates both that the principal aspects of type III burst radiation are understood and that global potential field models are a significantly more accurate representation of coronal magnetic field structure than either the large-scale photospheric field or H synoptic charts.     

Electrostatic Wave Instability and Plasma Radiation from Coronal Loops

Polarization properties of solar and stellar radio emission require, in some cases, emission below the third or fourth coronal electron gyro level, < 3,_c; 4, _c. In the context of plasma radiation, the source parameters should be such that the intermediate magnetic field condition 1 < _p ² / _c ² < 3 is satisfied. Supposing this condition, we investigate the generation of electrostatic waves in a warm background plasma with a high-energy component of magnetically trapped electrons. We invoke the conversion of upper-hybrid waves and Bernstein waves into electromagnetic radiation as being responsible for intense radio emission from a coronal magnetic loop. Moreover, odd-half harmonic emissions in the solar radio spectrum as well as the o-mode polarization at the second harmonic of the plasma frequency are natural consequence of this proposed model.     

On the Correlation Between the he ii λ304 Network Brightening and the Photospheric Magnetic Field

Near simultaneous coronal EUV images were used to show that the He ii 304 network brightening is independent of coronal EUV radiation. We studied the quantitative relation between the intensity of He ii 304 network brightening with the associated magnetic elements. An almost linear relationship was found between the He ii 304 network brightening and the magnetic field for a field strength higher than 10 G with exceptions at neutral lines and in the intra-network. We also calculated the most probable formation height of He ii 304 network elements using the potential extrapolation of the photospheric magnetic field. The results show that He ii 304 network elements form at or around 3000 km above the height of the layer at which the sources of magnetic flux are deployed.     

PROBLEMS AND PROGRESS IN COMPUTING THREE-DIMENSIONAL CORONAL ACTIVE REGION MAGNETIC FIELDS FROM BOUNDARY DATA

An overview of the whole process of reconstructing the coronal magnetic field from boundary data measured at the photosphere is presented. We discuss the errors and uncertainties in the data and in the data reduction process. The problems include noise in the magnetograph measurements, uncertainties in the interpretation of polarization signals, the 180° ambiguity in the transverse field, and the fact that the photosphere is not force-free. Methods for computing the three-dimensional structure of coronal active region magnetic fields, under the force-free assumption, from these boundary data, are then discussed. The methods fall into three classes: the extrapolation technique, which seeks to integrate upwards from the photosphere using only local values at the boundary; the current-field iteration technique, which propagates currents measured at the boundary along field lines, then iteratively recomputes the magnetic field due to this current distribution; and the evolutionary technique, which simulates the evolution of the coronal field, under quasi-physical resistive magnetohydrodynamic equations, as currents injected at the boundary are driven towards the observed values. The extrapolation method is mathematically ill-posed, and must be heavily smoothed to avoid exponential divergence. It may be useful for tracing low-lying field lines, but appears incapable of reconstructing the magnetic field higher in the corona. The original formulation of the current-field iteration method had problems achieving convergence, but a recent reformulation appears promising. Evolutionary methods have been applied to several real datasets, with apparent success.     

Взаимооействие Излучения Рентгеновскооо Истооника с АтмосФерой Нормальной Звезды в Тесных Двойных Системах

, . : , . , . . ( ) . . . HZ Her=Her X1, . . , . , ., hv 15–30 . , . Sco X1 .     

The nature of quiescent solar prominences

Quiescent prominences occur as long-lasting cool sheets of matter in the surrounding hot corona at the base of coronal streamers. Seen on the disk they appear as dark filaments dividing regions of opposite magnetic polarity.In this paper a theoretical model is presented, which describes the general appearance of quiescent prominences.It is shown that the neutral sheet between two regions of oppositely directed magnetic fields is thermally unstable. This gives rise to compression and cooling of coronal material to prominence material in a characteristic time of the order of one day for a field strength of 0.5 gauss in the lower corona.It is assumed that due to the finite electrical resistivity of the plasma, filamentary structures are formed by the tearing-mode resistive plasma instability. These structures are thermally insulated from the hot surroundings by the newly formed closed azimuthal magnetic field configuration.It has been shown that for fine structures with a diameter of 300 km the growth rate of the tearing-mode instability is of the same order as the cooling time. The occurrence of fine structures within the prominence is of vital importance for their origin.On leave from the Observatory Sonnenborgh at Utrecht, The Netherlands.     

О влиянии флукаций электронной концентрации на меру дисперсии и мету вращения

, (DM) (RM). , DM RM N _e = n _e ds. M _e = n _e H cos ds ; . Lerche (1970a, b) , DM RM N _e M _e . .     

The Magnetic Connectivity of Moss Regions

A novel emission feature resembling moss was first identified in high-resolution TRACE Feix/x 171 Å images by Berger et al. (1999). The moss emission is characterized by dynamic arc-second scale, bright elements surrounding dark inclusions in images of solar active regions. Patches of moss elements, called moss regions, have a scale of 20–30 Mm. Moss regions occur only above some of magnetic plages that underlie soft X-ray coronal loops. Using the potential field extrapolation of the photospheric magnetic field into the corona, we find that the magnetic field lines in moss-associated magnetic plages connect with adjacent plages with opposite polarity; however, all field lines from mossless plages end in surrounding quiet regions. This result is consistent with the idea that the TRACE moss is the emission from the upper transition region due to heating of low-lying plasma by field-aligned thermal conduction from overlying hot plasma (Berger et al., 1999).     

On the influence of massless scalar and vector electromagnetic fields on the singularity character in anisotropic cosmology

It is shown that, for the scalar-tensor cosmology (STC) by Jordan-Brans-Dicke (JBD), in general anisotropic solution the oscillatory mixmaster regime near the singularity will be destroyed by the scalar source-free field and replaced by monotonousV ₃-collapse into the point or into the line and plane (only in caseG0) even in the presence of the primordial source-free electromagnetic (EM) field.     

Photospheric vortex flows as a cause for two-ribbon flares: A topological model

By using a topological model for the potential magnetic field above the photosphere, the appearance and development of the separator as a result of vortex plasma flows in the locality of the photospheric neutral line is considered. The possible relation of such vortex flows with a flare activity is revealed. The arrangement and shape of the flare ribbons in the chromosphere, the formation of X-ray intersecting loops, the early appearance of bright knots on flare ribbon edges are naturally explained by the model provided a reconnecting current sheet arises along the separator in the coronal magnetic field of active regions as a result of the evolution of the magnetic field sources in the photosphere.     

Material ejecta in a disturbed solar filament

H observations, using the Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass (MSDP) spectrograph operating on the Meudon Solar Tower, have been made of an active region filament which undergoes a disparition brusque. The period of observation was from 10 45 to 13 30 UT on 22 June, 1981. Velocity and intensity fluctuations in H were measured. The proper motions of ejecta were followed allowing their trajectories and vector velocities to be determined. To model the dynamics of ejecta several models using thermal or magnetic driving forces are compared. The most promising model explains the motion as the consequence of magnetic stresses acting on an isolated magnetized plasmoïd in a diverging flux tube.     

The solar wind cycle,the sunspot cycle,and the corona

Recent theories of the solar cycle and of coronal heating strongly suggest that solar cycle variations of different quantities (i.e. sunspots, coronal green line, etc.) ought not to be expected to be in phase with one another. In agreement with this notion we note that the shape of the corona typical of a maximum eclipse occurs 1.5yr before sunspot maximum, compared with 2 yr as might be expected from Leighton's standard model. Further, we argue that the phase of the solar wind cycle can be determined from geomagnetic observations. Using this phase, a solar cycle variation of 100 km s^–1 in the solar wind velocity and 1 in the magnetic field intensity becomes apparent. In general, the solar wind cycle lags the coronal-eclipse-form cycle by 3 yr, compared with the 2 yr that might be expected from model calculations.     

Present Observational Status of the Intermediate Mass Stars: δ Sct Stars, γ Dor Stars and roAp Stars

The present observational status of the Sct stars, Dor stars and roAp stars is discussed. The Sct stars are the most intensively observed of the three groups, but it has become clear that there are severe problems in extracting asteroseismic information from them. Dozens of frequencies are observed, but hundreds of frequencies are predicted from the models; unique matches of observation and theory still elude us. The Sct stars are observationally complex – some recent `best case' campaigns are discussed. It is possible that substantial observational advances for Sct stars may need to await upcoming satellite missions. New Dor stars are beingdiscovered frequently, and new behaviour is being found for them. They constitutean observationally young field. Their pulsational frequency range is being expanded, their position in the HR diagram is becoming better known (but is yet to be fully constrained), and the possibility exists of hybrid Dor – Sct stars that have greatasteroseismic promise, although it is clear such stars are rare, if they do exist. It has been observationally challenging to extract more than a fewfrequencies for any Dor star so far. Exciting spectroscopic discoveries of new behaviour in roAp stars promise unprecedented information about the structure of the peculiar atmospheres ofthose stars – pulsation amplitude and phase in 3D, magnetic field structurein 3D, abundance stratification in 3D, realistic T- for the most peculiarstars – as well as entirely new information about the interaction of pulsation,rotation and magnetic fields. Recent theoretical work has led to new understandingof the previously inexplicable frequency spacing of HR 1217 with new Whole Earth Telescope observations supporting this theory. An `improved oblique pulsator model' has been developed in which the pulsationaxis is not the magnetic axis; this model has passed several observationaltests and new ones are being devised to examine it further.     

The libration of a satellite caused by the tidal field of its planet

The tidal field caused by the second order zonal harmonic of the gravitational field of a planet is discussed according to the fernwirkungsgesetz (principle of local action) of Weyl (1921) introducing an accurate and simple form of the gravitational potential of the planet in elliptic coordinates. It is seen that the tidal field can be described at each point as a small rotation of the local canonical frame which causes a libration and a precession of the axis of rotation of the satellites of the planet. It is also shown that at each point P, is one third of the angle between the line of force through P and the line from P to the center of mass of the planet. All the formulae obtained, to compute and , are in closed form.     

Effect of perturbations on the stability of triangular points. In the restricted problem of three bodies with variable mass

The effect of small perturbations and in the coriolis and the centrifugal forces respectively on the stability of the triangular points in the restricted problem of three bodies with variable mass has been studied. It is found that the range of stability of triangular points increases or decreases depending upon whether the perturbation point (, ) lies in one or the other of the two parts in which the (, ) plane is divided by the line J₈–J₉=0 where J₈ and J₉ depend upon , the constant due to the variation in mass governed by Jeans' law.     

Acceleration of electrons in absence of detectable optical flares deduced from type III radio bursts,Hα activity and soft X-ray emission

The relationship between H absorption features, type III radio bursts and soft X-ray emission has been examined in order to determine the characteristics of the particle acceleration process operating when a H-flare may not be detectable. It is found that transient H activity observed in the absence of reported flares is associated with production of relatively weak type III radio and soft X-ray emission. Since such optical phenomena are much more frequent than flares themselves, it is concluded that instabilities generating fast particles may be produced in the corona in a quasi-continuous way with coincident perturbations in the lower solar atmosphere.The soft X-ray component, which is similar to the precursor in flares, is not necessarily the direct product of fast particles, but is probably associated with some type of heating since both the soft X-ray emission and the H features exhibit a similar evolution, the type III bursts occurring near the maximum of this perturbation. The observations are consistent with a model in which the electron acceleration region is located at an altitude where the ion density is 10⁹ cm^–3 and most of the accelerated electrons( 20 keV) are confined to coronal altitudes where the ion density is 10¹⁰ cm^–3.     

Evolution of the Sun's magnetic polarities

The global magnetic-field resonances previously found in a modal analysis of a 25 yr Mt Wilson-Kitt Peak data set of synoptic magnetic maps are also revealed when only the magnetic polarities are used, disregarding the magnitude of the flux. Thus the topological organization of the magnetic polarities alone suffices to bring out the correct modal structure, although the results are noisier as compared with the case when the magnetic fluxes are included.This result suggests that magnetic polarities indirectly inferred from H data may be used to study the resonances. Whereas synoptic magnetograph observations are not available before 1959, H observations date back to the last century, and could in principle be used to enhance the frequency resolution in the power spectra.Using zonal distributions of magnetic polarities inferred from H data by Makarov for the period 1941–1983, we have performed a power spectrum analysis of the rotationally symmetric spherical harmonic modes (m = 0), and compared the results with the corresponding analysis for the magnetic fields and polarities determined from real magnetograph data. The same parity selection rule that governs the 22 yr magnetic cycle in the magnetograph data is also revealed by the H data. The H results are however much noisier and do not show the pattern of resonant frequencies discovered in the magnetograph data for the modes of even parity. It is concluded that only real magnetograph data should be used to investigate the global resonances in the magnetic-field pattern.     

On the quality of resonant absorption as a coronal loop heating mechanism

The qualityQ of a resonance is defined as the ratio of the total energy contained in the system to the dissipation per driving cycle. Hence, a good quality resonance is one with little losses, i.e., little dissipation per driving cycle. However, for heating coronal plasmas by means of resonant absorption of waves, bad quality resonances are required. Here, the quality of the MHD resonances that occur when an inhomogeneous coronal loop is excited by incident waves is investigated for typical coronal loop parameter values in the frame work of linear, resistive MHD. It is shown that the resonances in coronal loops have bad quality and, hence, yield a lot of Ohmic heating per driving cycle compared to the total energy stored in the loop. As a consequence, the time scales of the heating process are relatively short and resonant absorption turns out to be a viable candidate for the heating of the magnetic loops observed in the solar corona.     

Spiral filaments — The signature of singular points in a large delta spot

A large delta spot (active region NOAA 6891, October 23 – November 4, 1991) is analysed, and it is found that some spiral filaments across the spot can be regarded as signatures of a singular point entity (SPE) which lies near a separator of this complicated magnetic field region. Near such an entity, 86% of the flares in the region were produced, including two white-light flares, one of which, being the largest flare of the region, was accompanied by a powerful mass ejection. In an island delta spot, a SPE could be recognized very close to the usual U-shaped inversion lines. Together with the other characteristics (bright H emission, highly sheared magnetic field, umbra obscured by H, magnetic flux imbalance in the range 21–31), the SPE can help us to predict effectively the sites for great flares to occur (Zirin and Liggett, 1987).On leaving from Purple Mountain Observatory, Nanjing, China.