Simulations of Overexpanding CME Cavities

Physics – Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

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[7513] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Coronal Mass Ejections, [7524] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Magnetic Fields, [7531] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Prominence Eruptions, [7835] Space Plasma Physics / Magnetic Reconnection

Scientific paper

Coronal mass ejection (CME) cavities seen in white-light coronagraphs expand nearly self similarly in the outer corona and inner solar wind. Little is known about their initial expansion in the inner corona. A two-phase evolution, consisting of an initial overexpansion up to a heliocentric front height of about 1.5 solar radii, followed by nearly self-similar expansion, was recently discovered in STEREO/SECCHI observations of a fast CME (Patsourakos et al. 2010). The overexpansion is expressed as a decrease of the cavity aspect ratio (center height by radius) by at least a factor of 2 during the rise phase of the main CME acceleration. We present MHD simulations of erupting flux ropes that show the initial overexpansion of a cavity in line with the observed evolution. The contributions of ideal-MHD expansion and of magnetic reconnection to the growth of the flux rope and cavity in the simulations will be quantified to identify the primary cause of the overexpansion. This assesses the diagnostic potential of the overexpansion for the change of flux rope current and the role of magnetic reconnection in the early evolution of CMEs.

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