Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Nov 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003apj...597l..73n&link_type=abstract
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 597, Issue 1, pp. L73-L76.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
25
Magnetohydrodynamics: Mhd, Sun: Corona, Sun: Flares, Sun: Magnetic Fields, Sun: Sunspots
Scientific paper
The relaxation dynamics of a magnetized plasma system is a subject of fundamental importance in magnetohydrodynamics-with applications ranging from laboratory plasma devices such as the toroidal-field pinch and spheromaks to astrophysical plasmas, stellar flaring activity, and coronal heating. Taylor in 1974 proposed that the magnetic field in a plasma, subject to certain constraints, relaxes to a minimum energy state such that the final magnetic field configuration is a constant α (linear) force-free field-where α is a quantity describing the twist in magnetic field lines. While Taylor's theory was remarkably successful in explaining some intriguing results from laboratory plasma experiments, a clear signature of this mechanism in astrophysical plasmas remained undetected. Here we report observational detection of a relaxation process, similar to what Taylor envisaged, in the magnetic fields of flare-productive solar active regions. The implications of this result for magnetic reconnection and the coronal heating problem are discussed.
Canfield Richard C.
Hahn Michael
Longcope Dana Warfield
Nandy Dibyendu
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