Numerical simulations of fast and slow coronal mass ejections

Solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs) show a large variety in their kinematic properties. CMEs originating in active regions and accompanied by strong flares are usually faster and accelerated more impulsively than CMEs associated with filament eruptions outside active regions and weak flares. It has been proposed more than two decades ago that there are two separate types of CMEs, fast (impulsive) CMEs and slow (gradual) CMEs. However, this concept may not be valid, since the large data sets acquired in recent years do not show two distinct peaks in the CME velocity distribution and reveal that both fast and slow CMEs can be accompanied by both weak and strong flares. We present numerical simulations which confirm our earlier analytical result that a flux‐rope CME model permits describing fast and slow CMEs in a unified manner. We consider a force‐free coronal magnetic flux rope embedded in the potential field of model bipolar and quadrupolar active regions. The eruption is driven by the torus instability which occurs if the field overlying the flux rope decreases sufficiently rapidly with height. The acceleration profile depends on the steepness of this field decrease, corresponding to fast CMEs for rapid decrease, as is typical of active regions, and to slow CMEs for gentle decrease, as is typical of the quiet Sun. Complex (quadrupolar) active regions lead to the fastest CMEs. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Solar Flare Activity and Variability of Electric Current Helicity

1 INTRODUCTIONRecently Bao, Zhang, Ai, and Zhang (1999), using Huairou vector magnetograph data,have shown that the average current helicity (h.) or the curreflt helicity imbalance ph of activeregions change rapidly after so1ar flares. Up'an the onset of flares it tends to decrease for a fewhours and then to increase again, whereas ifQ some cases the flare promotes an increase in thecurrent helicity The observations led to tbe fol1owing conclusions: (1) raPid and substantialchanges of c…     

Relationship between Powerful Flares and Dynamic Evolution of the Magnetic Field at the Solar Surface

Powerful flares are closely related to the evolution of the complex magnetic field configuration at the solar surface. The strength of the magnetic field and speed of its evolution are two vital parameters in the study of the change of magnetic field in the solar atmosphere. We propose a dynamic and quantitative depiction of the changes in complexity of the active region: E=u×B, where u is the velocity of the footpoint motion of the magnetic field lines and B is the magnetic field. E represents the dynamic evolution of the velocity field and the magnetic field, shows the sweeping motions of magnetic footpoints, exhibits the buildup process of current, and relates to the changes in nonpotentiality of the active region in the photosphere. It is actually the induced electric field in the photosphere. It can be deduced observationally from velocities computed by the local correlation tracking (LCT) technique and vector magnetic fields derived from vector magnetograms. The relationship between E and ten X-class flares of four active regions (NOAA 10720, 10486, 9077, and 8100) has been studied. It is found that (1) the initial brightenings of flare kernels are roughly located near the inversion lines where the intensities of E are very high, (2) the daily averages of the mean densities of E and its normal component (E _n) decrease after flares for most cases we studied, whereas those of the tangential component of E (E _t) show no obvious regularities before and after flares, and (3) the daily averages of the mean densities of E _t are always higher than those of E _n, which cannot be naturally deduced by the daily averages of the mean densities of B _n and B _t.     

Force-free magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere

Reliable measurements of the solar magnetic field are restricted to the level of the photosphere. For about half a century attempts have been made to calculate the field in the layers above the photosphere, i.e. in the chromosphere and in the corona, from the measured photospheric field. The procedure is known as magnetic field extrapolation. In the superphotospheric parts of active regions the magnetic field is approximately force-free, i.e. electric currents are aligned with the magnetic field. The practical application to solar active regions has been largely confined to constant-α or linear force-free fields, with a spatially constant ratio, α, between the electric current and the magnetic field. We review results obtained from extrapolations with constant-α force-free fields, in particular on magnetic topologies favourable for flares and on magnetic and current helicities. Presently, different methods are being developed to calculate non-constant-α or nonlinear force-free fields from photospheric vector magnetograms. We also briefly discuss these methods and present a comparison of a linear and a nonlinear force-free magnetic field extrapolation applied to the same photospheric boundary data. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Multiresolution Analysis of Active Region Magnetic Structure and its Correlation with the Mount Wilson Classification and Flaring Activity

Two different multiresolution analyses are used to decompose the structure of active-region magnetic flux into concentrations of different size scales. Lines separating these opposite polarity regions of flux at each size scale are found. These lines are used as a mask on a map of the magnetic field gradient to sample the local gradient between opposite polarity regions of given scale sizes. It is shown that the maximum, average, and standard deviation of the magnetic flux gradient for α,β,β γ, and β γ δ active-regions increase in the order listed, and that the order is maintained over all length scales. Since magnetic flux gradient is strongly linked to active-region activity, such as flares, this study demonstrates that, on average, the Mt. Wilson classification encodes the notion of activity over all length scales in the active-region, and not just those length scales at which the strongest flux gradients are found. Further, it is also shown that the average gradients in the field, and the average length-scale at which they occur, also increase in the same order. Finally, there are significant differences in the gradient distribution, between flaring and non-flaring active regions, which are maintained over all length scales. It is also shown that the average gradient content of active-regions that have large flares (GOES class “M” and above) is larger than that for active regions containing flares of all flare sizes; this difference is also maintained at all length scales. All of the reported results are independent of the multiresolution transform used. The implications for the Mt. Wilson classification of active-regions in relation to the multiresolution gradient content and flaring activity are discussed.     

Analysis of enhanced velocity signals observed during solar flares

Solar flares are known to release a large amount of energy. It is believed that the flares can excite velocity oscillations in active regions. We report here the changes in velocity signals in three active regions which have produced large X-class flares. The enhanced velocity signals appeared during the rise time of the GOES soft X-ray flux. These signals are located close to the vicinity of the hard X-ray source regions as observed with RHESSI. The power maps of the active region show enhancement in the frequency regime 5–6.5 mHz, while there is feeble or no enhancement of these signals in 2–4 mHz frequency band. High energy particles with sufficient momentum seem to be the cause for these observed enhanced velocity signals.     

Formation of Solar Delta Active Regions： Twist and Writhe of Magnetic Ropes

We analyze the process of formation of delta configuration in some well-known super active regions based on photospheric vector magnetogram observations. It is found that the magnetic field in the initial developing stage of some delta active regions shows a potential-like configuration in the solar atmosphere, the magnetic shear develops mainly near the magnetic neutral line with magnetic islands of opposite polarities, and the large-scale photospheric twisted field forming gradually later. Some results are obtained: (1) The analysis of magnetic writhe of whole active regions cannot be limited in the strong field of sunspots, because the contribution of the fraction of decayed magnetic field is non-negligible. (2) The magnetic model of kink magnetic ropes, supposed to be generated in the subatmosphere, is not consistent with the evolution of large-scale twisted photospheric transverse magnetic field and not entirely consistent with the relationship with magnetic shear in some delta active regions. (3) T     

On the Relationship between Flux Emergence and CME Initiation

We present in this paper a statistical study aimed at understanding the possible relationship between surface magnetic field variation and CME initiation. The three samples studied comprise 189 CME-source regions, 46 active regions, and 15 newly emerging active regions. Both large-scale and small-scale variations of longitudinal magnetic fields of these regions are studied. To quantitatively study these variations, three physical quantities are calculated: the average total magnetic flux (ATF), the flux variation rate (FVR), and the normalized flux variation rate (NFVR). Our results show that 60% of the CME-source regions are found to have magnetic flux increases during 12 hours before CME eruptions and 40% are found to have magnetic flux decreases. The NFVR of CME-source regions are found to be statistically identical to those of active regions, averaged over 111 hours, and significantly smaller than those of newly emerging active regions. In addition 91% of the CME-source regions are found to have small-scale flux emergence, whereas small-scale flux emergences are also easily identified in active regions during periods with no solar surface activity. Our study suggests that the relationship between flux emergence and CME eruption is complex and the appearance of flux emergence alone is not unique for the initiation of CME eruption.     

Three Super Active Regions in the Descending Phase of Solar Cycle 23

We analyze the magnetic configurations of three super active regions, NOAA 10484, 10486 and 10488, observed by the Huairou Multi-Channel Solar Telescope (MCST) from 2003 October 18 to November 4. Many energetic phenomena, such as flares (including a X-28 flare) and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), occurred during this period. We think that strong shear and fast emergence of magnetic flux are the main causes of these events. The question is also of great interest why these dramatic eruptions occurred so close together in the descending phase of the solar cycle.     

Temporal and spatial distribution of the magnetic field and density of nonthermal electrons in the source of solar microwave bursts

The temporal and spatial distribution of the magnetic field and density of non-thermal electrons in the source of solar microwave bursts are studied by the gyrosynchrotron model, using the observations of the high-resolution spectrometer at the Owens Valley solar interferometer. The general results are consistent with the previous knowledge about these parameters. For example, the magnetic field decreases with increasing radio flux, and the distribution gradually flattens, so that the non-uniformity of the magnetic field decreases gradually, meanwhile the density increases, and the nonthermal electrons propagate from lower to higher levels. It is interesting that the oscillation of the density is detected at lower frequencies, and there is a correlation between the density and the energy index. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a diagnostic method for the basic plasma parameters in solar flares.     

Fluxtube magnetic field measurements in a solar flare in comparison with non-flare regions

Measurements of the fluxtube field strength B and filling α in solar flares, active regions and faculae have been analyzed. To estimate the values of B, Stokes V peak separations of the Fe I 5247 Å and Fe I 5250 Å lines have been used. It was found that the value of B in an In-flare (˜ 1.1 kG) was slightly smaller than that in faculae (˜ 1.3 kG) and a non-flare active region (˜ 1.4kG). On the other hand, in a more power 2b-flare the value of B was in the range from. 1.1 kG (the start of the flare) to 1.55kG. (during the peak). Thus the values of the field strength of flares somewhat differ from those both of faculae and active regions. The magnetic filling factor is approximately equal in flares (0.2-0.40) and active regions (0.3) but several times larger as compared with faculae.     

Magnetic reconnection,electric field,and particle acceleration in the July 14, 2000 solar flare

A topological model with magnetic reconnection at two separators in the corona is used to account for the recently discovered changes of the photospheric magnetic field in the active region NOAA 9077 during the July 14, 2000 flare. The model self-consistently explains the following observed effects: (1) the magnetic field strength decreases on the periphery of the active region but increases in its inner part near the neutral line of the photospheric magnetic field; (2) the center-of-mass positions of the fields of opposite (northern and southern) polarities converge; and (3) the magnetic flux of the active region decreases after the flare. The topological model gives not only a qualitative interpretation of the flare phenomena (the structure of the interacting magnetic fluxes in the corona, the location of the energy sources, the shape of the flare ribbons and kernels in the chromosphere and photosphere), but also correct quantitative estimates of the large-scale processes that form the basis for solar flares. The electric field emerging in the flare during large-scale reconnection is calculated. The electric field strength correlates with the observed intensity of the hard X-ray bremsstrahlung, suggesting an electron acceleration as a result of reconnection.     

Magnetic field, helicity and the 2000 July 14 flare in solar active region 9077

In this paper we analyse the non-potential magnetic field and the relationship with current (helicity) in the active region NOAA 9077 in 2000 July, using photospheric vector magnetograms obtained at different solar observatories and also coronal extreme-ultraviolet 171-Å images from the TRACE satellite.
We note that the shear and squeeze of magnetic field are two important indices for some flare-producing regions and can be confirmed by a sequence of photospheric vector magnetograms and EUV 171-Å features in the solar active region NOAA 9077. Evidence on the release of magnetic field near the photospheric magnetic neutral line is provided by the change of magnetic shear, electric current and current helicity in the lower solar atmosphere. It is found that the 'Bastille Day' 3B/5.7X flare on 2000 July 14 was triggered by the interaction of the different magnetic loop systems, which is relevant to the ejection of helical magnetic field from the lower solar atmosphere. The eruption of the large-scale coronal magnetic field occurs later than the decay of the highly sheared photospheric magnetic field and also current in the active region.     

Statistical Assessment of Photospheric Magnetic Features in Imminent Solar Flare Predictions

In this study we use the ordinal logistic regression method to establish a prediction model, which estimates the probability for each solar active region to produce X-, M-, or C-class flares during the next 1-day time period. The three predictive parameters are (1) the total unsigned magnetic flux T _flux, which is a measure of an active region’s size, (2) the length of the strong-gradient neutral line L _gnl, which describes the global nonpotentiality of an active region, and (3) the total magnetic dissipation E _diss, which is another proxy of an active region’s nonpotentiality. These parameters are all derived from SOHO MDI magnetograms. The ordinal response variable is the different level of solar flare magnitude. By analyzing 174 active regions, L _gnl is proven to be the most powerful predictor, if only one predictor is chosen. Compared with the current prediction methods used by the Solar Monitor at the Solar Data Analysis Center (SDAC) and NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the ordinal logistic model using L _gnl, T _flux, and E _diss as predictors demonstrated its automatic functionality, simplicity, and fairly high prediction accuracy. To our knowledge, this is the first time the ordinal logistic regression model has been used in solar physics to predict solar flares.     

The Relationship between Magnetic Gradient and Magnetic Shear in Five Super Active Regions Producing Great Flares

We study the magnetic structure of five well-known active regions that produced great flares (X5 or larger). The six flares under investigation are the X12 flare on 1991 June 9 in AR 6659, the X5.7 flare on 2000 July 14 in AR 9077, the X5.6 flare on 2001 April 6 in AR 9415, the X5.3 flare on 2001 August 25 in AR 9591, the X17 flare on 2003 October 28 and the X10 flare on 2003 October 29, both in AR 10486. The last five events had corresponding LASCO observations and were all associated with Halo CMEs. We analyzed vector magne-tograms from Big Bear Solar Observatory, Huairou Solar Observing Station, Marshall Space Right Center and Mees Solar Observatory. In particular, we studied the magnetic gradient derived from line-of-sight magnetograms and magnetic shear derived from vector magne-tograms, and found an apparent correlation between these two parameters at a level of about 90%. We found that the magnetic gradient could be a better proxy than the shear for predicting where a major flare might occur: all six flares occurred in neutral lines with maximum gradient. The mean gradient of the flaring neutral lines ranges from 0.14 to 0.50 G km-1, 2.3 to 8 times the average value for all the neutral lines in the active regions. If we use magnetic shear as the proxy, the flaring neutral line in at least one, possibly two, of the six events would be mis-identified.     

Evidence for interchange reconnection between a coronal hole and an adjacent emerging flux region

Coronal holes are regions of dominantly monopolar magnetic field on the Sun where the field is considered to be ‘open’ towards interplanetary space. Magnetic bipoles emerging in proximity to a coronal hole boundary naturally interact with this surrounding open magnetic field. In the case of oppositely aligned polarities between the active region and the coronal hole, we expect interchange reconnection to take place, driven by the coronal expansion of the emerging bipole as well as occasional eruptive events. Using SOHO/EIT and SOHO/MDI data, we present observational evidence of such interchange reconnection by studying AR 10869 which emerged close to a coronal hole. We find closed loops forming between the active region and the coronal hole leading to the retreat of the hole. At the same time, on the far side of the active region, we see dimming of the corona which we interpret as a signature of field line ‘opening’ there, as a consequence of a topological displacement of the ‘open’ field lines of the coronal hole. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Kinetic Alfvén waves in preflare plasma

Low‐frequency instabilities of plasma waves in the arch structures in solar active regions have been investigated before a flare. In the framework of mechanism of “direct initiation” of instability by slowly increasing (quasi‐static) large‐scale electric field in a loop the dispersion relation has been studied for the perturbations which propagate almost perpendicularly to the magnetic field of the loop. The case has been considered, when amplitude of weak (“subdreicer”) electric field sharply increases before a flare, low‐frequency instability develops on the background of ion‐acoustic turbulence and thickness of this turbulent plasma layer plays the role of mean characteristic scale of inhomogeneity of plasma density. If the values of the main plasma parameters, i.e. temperature, density, magnetic field amplitude allow to neglect the influence of the shear of magnetic strength lines on the instability development, then two types of the waves can be generated in preflare plasma: the kinetic Alfvén waves and some new kind of the waves from the range of slowly magneto‐acoustic ones. Instability of kinetic Alfvén waves has clearly expressed threshold character with respect to the amplitude of “subdreicer” electric field. This fact seems to be useful for the short‐time prediction of a flare in arch structure. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Statistical Study of Rapid Sunspot Structure Change Associated with Flares

We reported recently some rapid changes of sunspot structure in white-light(WL) associated with major flares.We extend the study to smaller events and present here results of a statistical study of this phenomenon.In total,we investigate 403 events from 1998 May 9 to 2004 July 17,including 40 X-class,174 M-class,and 189 C-class flares.By monitoring the structure of the flaring active regions using the WL observations from the Transition Region and Coronal Explorer(TRACE),we find that segments in the outer sunspot structure decayed rapidly right after many flares;and that,on the other hand,the central part of sunspots near the flare-associated magnetic neutral line became darkened.These rapid and permanent changes are evidenced in the time profiles of WL mean intensity and are not likely resulted from the flare emissions.Our study further shows that the outer sunspot structure decay as well as the central structure darkening are more likely to be detected in larger solar flares.For X-class flares,over 40% events show distinct sunspot structure change.For M-and C-class flares,this percentage drops to 17% and 10%,respectively.The results of this statistical study support our previously proposed reconnection picture,i.e.,the flare-related magnetic fields evolve from a highly inclined to a more vertical configuration.     

Solar Trans-equatorial Activity

We have found that solar flares in NOAA active region (AR) 10696 were often associated with large-scale trans-equatorial activities. These trans-equatorial activities appeared to be very common and manifest themselves through i) the formation and eruption of trans-equatorial loops (TELs), ii) the formation and eruption of trans-equatorial filaments (TEFs), and iii) the trans-equatorial brightening (TEB) in the chromosphere. It is determined that the TEF was formed following episodic plasma ejecta from flares occurring in the AR. The TEF eruption was associated with a trans-equatorial flare. All flares in the AR that were accompanied by trans-equatorial activities were associated with halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs). It was noticed that one or several major flares in the AR were followed by an increase of brightness and nonpotentiality of a TEL. These coupled events had a lifetime of more than 12 hours. In addition their associated halo CMEs always had a positive acceleration, indicating prolonged magnetic reconnections in the outer corona at high altitudes.     

Interpreting Helioseismic Structure Inversion Results of Solar Active Regions

Helioseismic techniques such as ring-diagram analysis have often been used to determine the subsurface structural differences between solar active and quiet regions. Results obtained by inverting the frequency differences between the regions are usually interpreted as the sound-speed differences between them. These in turn are used as a measure of temperature and magnetic-field strength differences between the two regions. In this paper we first show that the “sound-speed” difference obtained from inversions is actually a combination of sound-speed difference and a magnetic component. Hence, the inversion result is not directly related to the thermal structure. Next, using solar models that include magnetic fields, we develop a formulation to use the inversion results to infer the differences in the magnetic and thermal structures between active and quiet regions. We then apply our technique to existing structure inversion results for different pairs of active and quiet regions. We find that the effect of magnetic fields is strongest in a shallow region above 0.985R _⊙ and that the strengths of magnetic-field effects at the surface and in the deeper (r<0.98R _⊙) layers are inversely related (i.e., the stronger the surface magnetic field the smaller the magnetic effects in the deeper layers, and vice versa). We also find that the magnetic effects in the deeper layers are the strongest in the quiet regions, consistent with the fact that these are basically regions with weakest magnetic fields at the surface. Because the quiet regions were selected to precede or follow their companion active regions, the results could have implications about the evolution of magnetic fields under active regions.