Physics – Plasma Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm31b1875d&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM31B-1875
Physics
Plasma Physics
[7513] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Coronal Mass Ejections, [7827] Space Plasma Physics / Kinetic And Mhd Theory, [7835] Space Plasma Physics / Magnetic Reconnection
Scientific paper
We have conducted high-resolution numerical simulations of the gradual energization, initiation of eruption, and expansion into the inner heliosphere of coronal mass ejections. The critical triggering process underlying the eruption is the onset of magnetic reconnection. Reconnection at the deformed null point high in the corona (at the ‘breakout’ current sheet) reconfigures the restraining field overlying the eruptive core, accelerating the rise of the magnetic structure; that between the nearly vertical legs of the field above the polarity inversion lines (at the ‘flare’ current sheet) partially detaches flux from the Sun and provides a further impulse to the outward motion of the ejecta. To investigate these processes in detail, we assumed an axisymmetric (2.5D) spherical geometry and exploited the adaptive mesh refinement capabilities of our Adaptively Refined MHD Solver (ARMS) simulation model to achieve unprecedentedly high resolution of all current structures as they develop dynamically. As the maximum refinement level increases, the current sheets exhibit increasingly fine-scaled structure, with ever greater numbers of magnetic islands forming, dividing, recombining, and streaming along the sheets to their termini. The macroscopic properties of the ejecta, such as the kinetic energy and radial velocity of the CME, on the other hand, depend only weakly on the grid refinement level and the resultant numerical resistivity. This demonstrates convergence of the results toward the high-conductivity regime of the solar corona. In addition to describing these findings, we will report our progress on adding a kinetic-scale resistivity model to the global simulations. This work has been supported by the NASA HTP, SR&T, and LWS programs.
Antiochos Spiro K.
DeVore Richard C.
Karpen Judith T.
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