Study of the three-dimensional shape and dynamics of coronal loops observed by Hinode/EIS

We study plasma flows along selected coronal loops in NOAA Active Region 10926, observed on 3 December 2006 with Hinode's EUV Imaging Spectrograph (EIS). From the shape of the loops traced on intensity images and the Doppler shifts measured along their length we compute their three-dimensional (3D) shape and plasma flow velocity using a simple geometrical model. This calculation was performed for loops visible in the Fe VIII 185 Ang., Fe X 184 Ang., Fe XII 195 Ang., Fe XIII 202 Ang., and Fe XV 284 Ang. spectral lines. In most cases the flow is unidirectional from one footpoint to the other but there are also cases of draining motions from the top of the loops to their footpoints. Our results indicate that the same loop may show different flow patterns when observed in different spectral lines, suggesting a dynamically complex rather than a monolithic structure. We have also carried out magnetic extrapolations in the linear force-free field approximation using SOHO/MDI magnetograms, aiming toward a first-order identification of extrapolated magnetic field lines corresponding to the reconstructed loops. In all cases, the best-fit extrapolated lines exhibit left-handed twist (alpha < 0), in agreement with the dominant twist of the region.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

The Physics of Cluster Mergers

Clusters of galaxies generally form by the gravitational merger of smaller clusters and groups. Major cluster mergers are the most energetic events in the Universe since the Big Bang. Some of the basic physical properties of mergers will be discussed, with an emphasis on simple analytic arguments rather than numerical simulations. Semi-analytic estimates of merger rates are reviewed, and a simple treatment of the kinematics of binary mergers is given. Mergers drive shocks into the intracluster medium, and these shocks heat the gas and should also accelerate nonthermal relativistic particles. X-ray observations of shocks can be used to determine the geometry and kinematics of the merger. Many clusters contain cooling flow cores; the hydrodynamical interactions of these cores with the hotter, less dense gas during mergers are discussed. As a result of particle acceleration in shocks, clusters of galaxies should contain very large populations of relativistic electrons and ions. Electrons with Lorentz factors gamma~300 (energies E = gamma m_e c^2 ~ 150 MeV) are expected to be particularly common. Observations and models for the radio, extreme ultraviolet, hard X-ray, and gamma-ray emission from nonthermal particles accelerated in these mergers are described.Comment: 38 pages with 9 embedded Postscript figures. To appear in Merging Processes in Clusters of Galaxies, edited by L. Feretti, I. M. Gioia, and G. Giovannini (Dordrecht: Kluwer), in press (2001

Signatures of the slow solar wind streams from active regions in the inner corona

Some of local sources of the slow solar wind can be associated with spectroscopically detected plasma outflows at edges of active regions accompanied with specific signatures in the inner corona. The EUV telescopes (e.g. SPIRIT/CORONAS-F, TESIS/CORONAS-Photon and SWAP/PROBA2) sometimes observed extended ray-like structures seen at the limb above active regions in 1MK iron emission lines and described as "coronal rays". To verify the relationship between coronal rays and plasma outflows, we analyze an isolated active region (AR) adjacent to small coronal hole (CH) observed by different EUV instruments in the end of July - beginning of August 2009. On August 1 EIS revealed in the AR two compact outflows with the Doppler velocities V =10-30 km/s accompanied with fan loops diverging from their regions. At the limb the ARCH interface region produced coronal rays observed by EUVI/STEREO-A on July 31 as well as by TESIS on August 7. The rays were co-aligned with open magnetic field lines expanded to the streamer stalks. Using the DEM analysis, it was found that the fan loops diverged from the outflow regions had the dominant temperature of ~1 MK, which is similar to that of the outgoing plasma streams. Parameters of the solar wind measured by STEREO-B, ACE, WIND, STEREO-A were conformed with identification of the ARCH as a source region at the Wang-Sheeley-Arge map of derived coronal holes for CR 2086. The results of the study support the suggestion that coronal rays can represent signatures of outflows from ARs propagating in the inner corona along open field lines into the heliosphere.Comment: Accepted for publication in Solar Physics; 31 Pages; 13 Figure

Measurement of the atmospheric neutrino-induced upgoing muon flux using MACRO

We present a measurement of the flux of neutrino-induced upgoing muons (~100 GeV) using the MACRO detector. The ratio of the number of observed to expected events integrated over all zenith angles is 0.74 +/- 0.036 (stat) +/- 0.046(systematic) +/- 0.13 (theoretical). The observed zenith distribution for -1.0 < cos(theta) < -0.1 does not fit well with the no oscillation expectation, giving a maximum probability for chi^2 of 0.1%. The acceptance of the detector has been extensively studied using downgoing muons, independent analyses and Monte-Carlo simulations. The other systematic uncertainties cannot be the source of the discrepancies between the data and expectations. We have investigated whether the observed number of events and the shape of the zenith distribution can be explained by a neutrino oscillation hypothesis. Fitting either the flux or zenith distribution independently yields mixing parameters of sin^2 (2theta)=1.0 and delta m^2 of a few times 10^-3 eV^2. However, the observed zenith distribution does not fit well with any expectations giving a maximum probability for chi^2 of 5% for the best oscillation hypothesis, and the combined probability for the shape and number of events is 17%. We conclude that these data favor a neutrino oscillation hypothesis, but with unexplained structure in the zenith distribution not easily explained by either the statistics or systematics of the experiment.Comment: 7 pages (two-column) with 4 figure

Collisional and Radiative Processes in Optically Thin Plasmas

Most of our knowledge of the physical processes in distant plasmas is obtained through measurement of the radiation they produce. Here we provide an overview of the main collisional and radiative processes and examples of diagnostics relevant to the microphysical processes in the plasma. Many analyses assume a time-steady plasma with ion populations in equilibrium with the local temperature and Maxwellian distributions of particle velocities, but these assumptions are easily violated in many cases. We consider these departures from equilibrium and possible diagnostics in detail

An Observational Overview of Solar Flares

We present an overview of solar flares and associated phenomena, drawing upon a wide range of observational data primarily from the RHESSI era. Following an introductory discussion and overview of the status of observational capabilities, the article is split into topical sections which deal with different areas of flare phenomena (footpoints and ribbons, coronal sources, relationship to coronal mass ejections) and their interconnections. We also discuss flare soft X-ray spectroscopy and the energetics of the process. The emphasis is to describe the observations from multiple points of view, while bearing in mind the models that link them to each other and to theory. The present theoretical and observational understanding of solar flares is far from complete, so we conclude with a brief discussion of models, and a list of missing but important observations.Comment: This is an article for a monograph on the physics of solar flares, inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in Space Science Reviews (2011

Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET

The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR

Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET

A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM

On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection

A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)