Dynamical evolution of twisted magnetic flux tubes. I. Equilibrium and linear stability
- Science Applications International Corp., San Diego, CA (USA) California Univ., Irvine (USA)
The three-dimensional dynamical evolution of twisted magnetic flux tubes is studied using a time-dependent magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. The flux tubes are intended to model solar coronal loops, and include the stabilizing effect of photospheric line tying. The model permits the complete evolution of flux tubes to be followed self-consistently, including the formation, equilibrium, linear instability, and nonlinear behavior. Starting from an initial uniform background magnetic field, a twisted flux tube is created by the application of slow, localized photospheric vortex flows. The flux tube evolves quasi-statically through sequences of equilibria with increasing twist, until it becomes linearly unstable to an ideal MHD kink mode. In this paper, the equilibrium properties and the linear stability behavior are discussed. The application of the method to the uniform-twist, Gold-Hoyle field confirms the previous stability threshold for kink instability and provides estimates of the resulting growth rate. 29 refs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6174705
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Vol. 361; ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
SUN
MAGNETIC FLUX
CURRENT DENSITY
EQUILIBRIUM
KINK INSTABILITY
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NONLINEAR PROBLEMS
ORIGIN
PHOTOSPHERE
SOLAR CORONA
STABILITY
TIME DEPENDENCE
VORTEX FLOW
ATMOSPHERES
FLUID FLOW
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INSTABILITY
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MECHANICS
PLASMA INSTABILITY
PLASMA MACROINSTABILITIES
SOLAR ATMOSPHERE
STARS
STELLAR ATMOSPHERES
STELLAR CORONAE
640104* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Solar Phenomena