Electric currents in the solar corona and the existence of magnetostatic equilibrium

Details Electric currents in the solar corona and the existence of magnetostatic equilibrium Electric currents in the solar corona and the existence of magnetostatic equilibrium

Nov 1985

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1985apj...298..421v&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 298, Nov. 1, 1985, p. 421-430. Research supported by Lockheed Independent R

Mathematics

Logic

151

Electric Current, Magnetostatics, Solar Corona, Solar Magnetic Field, Differential Equations, Force-Free Magnetic Fields, Lines Of Force, Magnetohydrodynamic Stability, Plasma Heating

Scientific paper

The random motions of magnetic field lines induced by convective flows below the solar surface cause braiding and twisting of the coronal magnetic field, and may be responsible for heating the solar corona. The suggestion by Parker (1972) that the field does in general not attain equilibrium, and must develop current sheets in which the braiding patterns are dissipated (topological dissipation), is considered. Using an analogy with two-dimensional flows, it is shown that invariance of the winding pattern in the general direction of the field is not a necessary requirement for equilibrium, as Parker suggested. Discontinuities in the magnetic field (current sheets) arise only if the velocity field at the photospheric boundary is itself a discontinuous function of position. This suggests that the corona field can simply adjust to the slowly changing boundary conditions in the photosphere, and that 'topological dissipation' of the winding patterns does not take place. Some implications for coronal heating are discussed.

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