3,495 research outputs found
Sunspot rotation. I. A consequence of flux emergence
Context. Solar eruptions and high flare activity often accompany the rapid
rotation of sunspots. The study of sunspot rotation and the mechanisms driving
this motion are therefore key to our understanding of how the solar atmosphere
attains the conditions necessary for large energy release.
Aims. We aim to demonstrate and investigate the rotation of sunspots in a 3D
numerical experiment of the emergence of a magnetic flux tube as it rises
through the solar interior and emerges into the atmosphere. Furthermore, we
seek to show that the sub-photospheric twist stored in the interior is injected
into the solar atmosphere by means of a definitive rotation of the sunspots.
Methods. A numerical experiment is performed to solve the 3D resistive
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations using a Lagrangian-Remap code. We track the
emergence of a toroidal flux tube as it rises through the solar interior and
emerges into the atmosphere investigating various quantities related to both
the magnetic field and plasma.
Results. Through detailed analysis of the numerical experiment, we find clear
evidence that the photospheric footprints or sunspots of the flux tube undergo
a rotation. Significant vertical vortical motions are found to develop within
the two polarity sources after the field emerges. These rotational motions are
found to leave the interior portion of the field untwisted and twist up the
atmospheric portion of the field. This is shown by our analysis of the relative
magnetic helicity as a significant portion of the interior helicity is
transported to the atmosphere. In addition, there is a substantial transport of
magnetic energy to the atmosphere. Rotation angles are also calculated by
tracing selected fieldlines; the fieldlines threading through the sunspot are
found to rotate through angles of up to 353 degrees over the course of the
experiment
Real-Time Cavity QED with Single Atoms
The combination of cold atoms and large coherent coupling enables investigations in a new regime in cavity QED with single-atom trajectories monitored in real time with high signal-to-noise ratio. The underlying “vacuum-Rabi” splitting is clearly reflected in the frequency dependence of atomic transit signals recorded atom by atom, with evidence for mechanical light forces for intracavity photon number <1. The nonlinear optical response of one atom in a cavity is observed to be in accord with the one-atom quantum theory but at variance with semiclassical predictions
Discriminating cool-water from warm-water carbonates and their diagenetic environments using element geochemistry: the Oligocene Tikorangi Formation (Taranaki Basin) and the dolomite effect
Fields portrayed within bivariate element plots have been used to distinguish between carbonates formed in warm- (tropical) water and cool- (temperate) water depositional settings. Here, element concentrations (Ca, Mg, Sr, Na, Fe, and Mn) have been determined for the carbonate fraction of bulk samples from the late Oligocene Tikorangi Formation, a subsurface, mixed dolomite-calcite, cool-water limestone sequence in Taranaki Basin, New Zealand. While the occurrence of dolomite is rare in New Zealand Cenozoic carbonates, and in cool-water carbonates more generally, the dolomite in the Tikorangi carbonates is shown to have a dramatic effect on the "traditional" positioning of cool-water limestone fields within bivariate element plots. Rare undolomitised, wholly calcitic carbonate samples in the Tikorangi Formation have the following average composition: Mg 2800 ppm; Ca 319 100 ppm; Na 800 ppm; Fe 6300 ppm; Sr 2400 ppm; and Mn 300 ppm. Tikorangi Formation dolomite-rich samples (>15% dolomite) have average values of: Mg 53 400 ppm; Ca 290 400 ppm; Na 4700 ppm; Fe 28 100 ppm; Sr 5400 ppm; and Mn 500 ppm. Element-element plots for dolomite-bearing samples show elevated Mg, Na, and Sr values compared with most other low-Mg calcite New Zealand Cenozoic limestones. The increased trace element contents are directly attributable to the trace element-enriched nature of the burial-derived dolomites, termed here the "dolomite effect". Fe levels in the Tikorangi Formation carbonates far exceed both modern and ancient cool-water and warm-water analogues, while Sr values are also higher than those in modern Tasmanian cool-water carbonates, and approach modern Bahaman warm-water carbonate values. Trace element data used in conjunction with more traditional petrographic data have aided in the diagenetic interpretation of the carbonate-dominated Tikorangi sequence. The geochemical results have been particularly useful for providing more definitive evidence for deep burial dolomitisation of the deposits under the influence of marine-modified pore fluids
Consequences of spontaneous reconnection at a two-dimensional non-force-free current layer
Magnetic neutral points, where the magnitude of the magnetic field vanishes
locally, are potential locations for energy conversion in the solar corona. The
fact that the magnetic field is identically zero at these points suggests that
for the study of current sheet formation and of any subsequent resistive
dissipation phase, a finite beta plasma should be considered, rather than
neglecting the plasma pressure as has often been the case in the past. The
rapid dissipation of a finite current layer in non-force-free equilibrium is
investigated numerically, after the sudden onset of an anomalous resistivity.
The aim of this study is to determine how the energy is redistributed during
the initial diffusion phase, and what is the nature of the outward transmission
of information and energy. The resistivity rapidly diffuses the current at the
null point. The presence of a plasma pressure allows the vast majority of the
free energy to be transferred into internal energy. Most of the converted
energy is used in direct heating of the surrounding plasma, and only about 3%
is converted into kinetic energy, causing a perturbation in the magnetic field
and the plasma which propagates away from the null at the local fast
magnetoacoustic speed. The propagating pulses show a complex structure due to
the highly non-uniform initial state. It is shown that this perturbation
carries no net current as it propagates away from the null. The fact that,
under the assumptions taken in this paper, most of the magnetic energy released
in the reconnection converts internal energy of the plasma, may be highly
important for the chromospheric and coronal heating problem
Magnetohydrodynamics dynamical relaxation of coronal magnetic fields. I. Parallel untwisted magnetic fields in 2D
Context. For the last thirty years, most of the studies on the relaxation of
stressed magnetic fields in the solar environment have onlyconsidered the
Lorentz force, neglecting plasma contributions, and therefore, limiting every
equilibrium to that of a force-free field. Aims. Here we begin a study of the
non-resistive evolution of finite beta plasmas and their relaxation to
magnetohydrostatic states, where magnetic forces are balanced by
plasma-pressure gradients, by using a simple 2D scenario involving a
hydromagnetic disturbance to a uniform magnetic field. The final equilibrium
state is predicted as a function of the initial disturbances, with aims to
demonstrate what happens to the plasma during the relaxation process and to see
what effects it has on the final equilibrium state. Methods. A set of numerical
experiments are run using a full MHD code, with the relaxation driven by
magnetoacoustic waves damped by viscous effects. The numerical results are
compared with analytical calculations made within the linear regime, in which
the whole process must remain adiabatic. Particular attention is paid to the
thermodynamic behaviour of the plasma during the relaxation. Results. The
analytical predictions for the final non force-free equilibrium depend only on
the initial perturbations and the total pressure of the system. It is found
that these predictions hold surprisingly well even for amplitudes of the
perturbation far outside the linear regime. Conclusions. Including the effects
of a finite plasma beta in relaxation experiments leads to significant
differences from the force-free case
The triggering of MHD instabilities through photospheric footpoint motions
The results of 3D numerical simulations modelling the twisting of a coronal loop due to photospheric vortex motions are presented. The simulations are carried out using an initial purely axial field and an initial equilibrium configuration with twist, . The non-linear and resistive evolutions of the instability are followed. The magnetic field is twisted by the boundary motions into a loop which initially has boundary layers near the photospheric boundaries as has been suggested by previous work. The boundary motions increase the twist in the loop until it becomes unstable. For both cases the boundary twisting triggers the kink instability. In both cases a helical current structure wraps itself around the kinked central current. This current scales linearly with grid resolution indicating current sheet formation. For the cases studied 35-40% of the free magnetic energy is released. This is sufficient to explain the energy released in a compact loop flare
Numerical simulations of kink instability in line-tied coronal loops
The results from numerical simulations carried out using a new shock-capturing, Lagrangian-remap, 3D MHD code, Lare3d are presented. We study the evolution of the m=1 kink mode instability in a photospherically line-tied coronal loop that has no net axial current. During the non-linear evolution of the kink instability, large current concentrations develop in the neighbourhood of the infinite length mode rational surface. We investigate whether this strong current saturates at a finite value or whether scaling indicates current sheet formation. In particular, we consider the effect of the shear, defined by where is the fieldline twist of the loop, on the current concentration. We also include a non-uniform resistivity in the simulations and observe the amount of free magnetic energy released by magnetic reconnection
A new approach for modelling chromospheric evaporation in response to enhanced coronal heating : II. Non-uniform heating
This project has received funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (UK) through the consolidated grant ST/N000609/1 and the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 647214).We proposed that the use of an approximate “jump condition” at the solar transition region permits fast and accurate numerical solutions of the one dimensional hydrodynamic equations when the corona undergoes impulsive heating. In particular, it eliminates the need for the very short timesteps imposed by a highly resolved numerical grid. This paper presents further examples of the applicability of the method for cases of non-uniform heating, in particular, nanoflare trains (uniform in space but non-uniform in time) and spatially localised impulsive heating, including at the loop apex and base of the transition region. In all cases the overall behaviour of the coronal density and temperature shows good agreement with a fully resolved one dimensional model and is significantly better than the equivalent results from a 1D code run without using the jump condition but with the same coarse grid. A detailed assessment of the errors introduced by the jump condition is presented showing that the causes of discrepancy with the fully resolved code are (i) the neglect of the terms corresponding to the rate of change of total energy in the unresolved atmosphere; (ii) mass motions at the base of the transition region and (iii) for some cases with footpoint heating, an over-estimation of the radiative losses in the transition region.PostprintPeer reviewe
Energy Distribution of Micro-events in the Quiet Solar Corona
Recent imaging observations of EUV line emissions have shown evidence for
frequent flare-like events in a majority of the pixels in quiet regions of the
solar corona. The changes in coronal emission measure indicate impulsive
heating of new material to coronal temperatures. These heating or evaporation
events are candidate signatures of "nanoflares" or "microflares" proposed to
interpret the high temperature and the very existence of the corona. The energy
distribution of these micro-events reported in the literature differ widely,
and so do the estimates of their total energy input into the corona. Here we
analyze the assumptions of the different methods, compare them by using the
same data set and discuss their results.
We also estimate the different forms of energy input and output, keeping in
mind that the observed brightenings are most likely secondary phenomena. A
rough estimate of the energy input observed by EIT on the SoHO satellite is of
the order of 10% of the total radiative output in the same region. It is
considerably smaller for the two reported TRACE observations. The discrepancy
can be explained partially by different thresholds for flare detection. There
is agreement on the slope and the absolute value of the distribution if the
same method were used and a numerical error corrected. The extrapolation of the
power law to unobserved energies that are many orders of magnitude smaller
remains questionable. Nevertheless, these micro-events and unresolved smaller
events are currently the best source of information on the heating process of
the corona
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