A model for the formation of the active region corona driven by magnetic flux emergence

We present the first model that couples the formation of the corona of a solar active region to a model of the emergence of a sunspot pair. This allows us to study when, where, and why active region loops form, and how they evolve. We use a 3D radiation MHD simulation of the emergence of an active region through the upper convection zone and the photosphere as a lower boundary for a 3D MHD coronal model. The latter accounts for the braiding of the magnetic fieldlines, which induces currents in the corona heating up the plasma. We synthesize the coronal emission for a direct comparison to observations. Starting with a basically field-free atmosphere we follow the filling of the corona with magnetic field and plasma. Numerous individually identifiable hot coronal loops form, and reach temperatures well above 1 MK with densities comparable to observations. The footpoints of these loops are found where small patches of magnetic flux concentrations move into the sunspots. The loop formation is triggered by an increase of upwards-directed Poynting flux at their footpoints in the photosphere. In the synthesized EUV emission these loops develop within a few minutes. The first EUV loop appears as a thin tube, then rises and expands significantly in the horizontal direction. Later, the spatially inhomogeneous heat input leads to a fragmented system of multiple loops or strands in a growing envelope.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, accepted to publication in A&

Magnetic Jam in the Corona of the Sun

The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, contains plasma at temperatures of more than a million K, more than 100 times hotter that solar surface. How this gas is heated is a fundamental question tightly interwoven with the structure of the magnetic field in the upper atmosphere. Conducting numerical experiments based on magnetohydrodynamics we account for both the evolving three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere and the complex interaction of magnetic field and plasma. Together this defines the formation and evolution of coronal loops, the basic building block prominently seen in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images. The structures seen as coronal loops in the EUV can evolve quite differently from the magnetic field. While the magnetic field continuously expands as new magnetic flux emerges through the solar surface, the plasma gets heated on successively emerging fieldlines creating an EUV loop that remains roughly at the same place. For each snapshot the EUV images outline the magnetic field, but in contrast to the traditional view, the temporal evolution of the magnetic field and the EUV loops can be different. Through this we show that the thermal and the magnetic evolution in the outer atmosphere of a cool star has to be treated together, and cannot be simply separated as done mostly so far.Comment: Final version published online on 27 April 2015, Nature Physics 12 pages and 8 figure

Constraints on the average magnetic field strength of relic radio sources 0917+75 and 1401-33 from XMM-Newton observations

We observed two relic radio sources, 0917+75 and 1401-33, with the XMM-Newton X-ray observatory. We did not detect any X-ray emission, thermal or non-thermal, in excess of the local background level from either target. This imposes new upper limits on the X-ray flux due to inverse Compton scattering of photons from the cosmic microwave background by relativistic electrons in the relic sources, and new lower limits on the magnetic field strength from the relative strength of the radio and X-ray emission. The combination of radio and X-ray observations provides a measure of the magnetic field independent of equipartition or minimum energy assumptions. Due to increasing sensitivity of radio observations, the known population of cluster relics has been growing; however, studies of non-thermal X-ray emission from relics remain scarce. Our study adds to the small sample of relics studied in X-rays. In both relics, our field strength lower limits are slightly larger than estimates of the equipartition magnetic field.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by MNRA

Thermal Diagnostics with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory: A Validated Method for Differential Emission Measure Inversions

We present a new method for performing differential emission measure (DEM) inversions on narrow-band EUV images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The method yields positive definite DEM solutions by solving a linear program. This method has been validated against a diverse set of thermal models of varying complexity and realism. These include (1) idealized gaussian DEM distributions, (2) 3D models of NOAA Active Region 11158 comprising quasi-steady loop atmospheres in a non-linear force-free field, and (3) thermodynamic models from a fully-compressible, 3D MHD simulation of AR corona formation following magnetic flux emergence. We then present results from the application of the method to AIA observations of Active Region 11158, comparing the region's thermal structure on two successive solar rotations. Additionally, we show how the DEM inversion method can be adapted to simultaneously invert AIA and XRT data, and how supplementing AIA data with the latter improves the inversion result. The speed of the method allows for routine production of DEM maps, thus facilitating science studies that require tracking of the thermal structure of the solar corona in time and space.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Constitutional Secession Clauses

Taking the view that constitutions are devices whereby people coordinate to specific equilibria in circumstances that allow multiple equilibria, we show that a constitutional secession clause can serve as such a device and, therefore, that such a clause is more than an empty promise or an ineffectual threat. Employing a simple three-person recursive game, we establish that under certain conditions, this game possesses two equilibria - one in which a disadvantaged federal unit secedes and is not punished by the other units in the federation, and a second equilibrium in which this unit does not secede but is punished if it chooses to do so