Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
May 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996apj...463..359w&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal v.463, p.359
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
6
Magnetohydrodynamics: Mhd, Sun: Corona, Sun: Rotation
Scientific paper
The Sun's differential rotation causes azimuthal displacement of the photospheric footpoints of any magnetic field lines that are not footed symmetrically about the solar equator. For a field that is initially potential, the result is a shearing of the field lines with the concomitant introduction of an azimuthal field component and associated electric currents. Shearing due to differential rotation occurs on a time- scale much slower than a typical coronal Alfvén time, so the corona should respond quasi-statically to such shearing if it is possible for it to do so.
In this work we use a simple, semianalytic model that treats the evolving corona as passing quasi- statically through a sequence of force-free equilibrium states. We adopt a quadrupolar field configuration as the simplest field for which differential rotation results in footpoint shear. Our results show the coronal field evolving slowly at first and then, after about 30 days, switching to a much more rapid evolution toward an open-field state that might be associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME). Although our model suggests that solar differential rotation may be an appropriate mechanism for initiating CM Es, it also shows that differential rotation probably acts too slowly to account for observed CME rates.
Bhattacharjee Hrijoy
Dlamini Bongani
Wolfson Richard
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