The Magnetic Helicity Injected by Shearing Motions

Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

50

Scientific paper

Photospheric shearing motions are one of the possible ways to inject magnetic helicity into the corona. We explore their efficiency as a function of their particular properties and those of the magnetic field configuration. Based on the work of M. A. Berger, we separate the helicity injection into two terms: twist and writhe. For shearing motions concentrated between the centers of two magnetic polarities the helicity injected by twist and writhe add up, while for spatially more extended shearing motions, such as differential rotation, twist and writhe helicity have opposite signs and partially cancel. This implies that the amount of injected helicity can change in sign with time even if the shear velocity is time independent. We confirm the amount of helicity injected by differential rotation in a bipole in the two particular cases studied by DeVore (2000), and further explore the parameter space on which this injection depends. For a given latitude, tilt and magnetic flux, the generation of helicity is slightly more efficient in young active regions than in decayed ones (up to a factor 2). The helicity injection is mostly affected by the tilt of the AR with respect to the solar equator. The total helicity injected by shearing motions, with both spatial and temporal coherence, is at most equivalent to that of a twisted flux tube having the same magnetic flux and a number of turns of 0.3. In the solar case, where the motions have not such global coherence, the injection of helicity is expected to be much smaller, while for differential rotation this maximum value reduces to 0.2 turns. We conclude that shearing motions are a relatively inefficient way to bring magnetic helicity into the corona (compared to the helicity carried by a significantly twisted flux tube).

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The Magnetic Helicity Injected by Shearing Motions does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with The Magnetic Helicity Injected by Shearing Motions, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Magnetic Helicity Injected by Shearing Motions will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-833709

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.