A dynamic magnetic tension force as the cause of failed solar eruptions

Myers, Clayton E.; Yamada, Masaaki; Ji, Hantao; Yoo, Jongsoo; Fox, William; Jara-Almonte, Jonathan; Savcheva, Antonia; DeLuca, Edward E.

doi:10.1038/nature16188

Title: A dynamic magnetic tension force as the cause of failed solar eruptions

Abstract

Coronal mass ejections are solar eruptions driven by a sudden release of magnetic energy stored in the Sun's corona. In many cases, this magnetic energy is stored in long-lived, arched structures called magnetic flux ropes. When a flux rope destabilizes, it can either erupt and produce a coronal mass ejection or fail and collapse back towards the Sun. The prevailing belief is that the outcome of a given event is determined by a magnetohydrodynamic force imbalance called the torus instability. This belief is challenged, however, by observations indicating that torus-unstable flux ropes sometimes fail to erupt. This contradiction has not yet been resolved because of a lack of coronal magnetic field measurements and the limitations of idealized numerical modelling. In this paper, we report the results of a laboratory experiment that reveal a previously unknown eruption criterion below which torus-unstable flux ropes fail to erupt. We find that such 'failed torus' events occur when the guide magnetic field (that is, the ambient field that runs toroidally along the flux rope) is strong enough to prevent the flux rope from kinking. Under these conditions, the guide field interacts with electric currents in the flux rope to produce a dynamic toroidal fieldmore »« less

Authors:

Myers, Clayton E. ^[1]; Yamada, Masaaki ^[2]; Ji, Hantao ^[3]; Yoo, Jongsoo ^[2]; Fox, William ^[2]; Jara-Almonte, Jonathan ^[1]; Savcheva, Antonia ^[4]; DeLuca, Edward E. ^[4]

Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences; Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Princeton Univ., NJ (United States). Dept. of Astrophysical Sciences; Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States); Harbin Inst Technol Heilongjiang, PR (China)
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA (United States)

Publication Date:: Wed Dec 23 00:00:00 EST 2015

Research Org.:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

Contributing Org.:: National Science Foundation/DoE Center for Magnetic Self-Organization (CMSO)

OSTI Identifier:: 1259404

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-09CH11466

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Nature (London)

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Nature (London); Journal Volume: 528; Journal Issue: 7583; Related Information: The digital data for this paper can be found at http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01j3860933c.; Journal ID: ISSN 0028-0836

Publisher:: Nature Publishing Group

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

Citation Formats


                    Myers, Clayton E., Yamada, Masaaki, Ji, Hantao, Yoo, Jongsoo, Fox, William, Jara-Almonte, Jonathan, Savcheva, Antonia, and DeLuca, Edward E. A dynamic magnetic tension force as the cause of failed solar eruptions.  United States: N. p., 2015. 
Web.  doi:10.1038/nature16188.

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                    Myers, Clayton E., Yamada, Masaaki, Ji, Hantao, Yoo, Jongsoo, Fox, William, Jara-Almonte, Jonathan, Savcheva, Antonia, & DeLuca, Edward E. A dynamic magnetic tension force as the cause of failed solar eruptions.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16188

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                    Myers, Clayton E., Yamada, Masaaki, Ji, Hantao, Yoo, Jongsoo, Fox, William, Jara-Almonte, Jonathan, Savcheva, Antonia, and DeLuca, Edward E. Wed .  
"A dynamic magnetic tension force as the cause of failed solar eruptions".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16188.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1259404.

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@article{osti_1259404,

  title        = {A dynamic magnetic tension force as the cause of failed solar eruptions},

  author       = {Myers, Clayton E. and Yamada, Masaaki and Ji, Hantao and Yoo, Jongsoo and Fox, William and Jara-Almonte, Jonathan and Savcheva, Antonia and DeLuca, Edward E.},

  abstractNote = {Coronal mass ejections are solar eruptions driven by a sudden release of magnetic energy stored in the Sun's corona. In many cases, this magnetic energy is stored in long-lived, arched structures called magnetic flux ropes. When a flux rope destabilizes, it can either erupt and produce a coronal mass ejection or fail and collapse back towards the Sun. The prevailing belief is that the outcome of a given event is determined by a magnetohydrodynamic force imbalance called the torus instability. This belief is challenged, however, by observations indicating that torus-unstable flux ropes sometimes fail to erupt. This contradiction has not yet been resolved because of a lack of coronal magnetic field measurements and the limitations of idealized numerical modelling. In this paper, we report the results of a laboratory experiment that reveal a previously unknown eruption criterion below which torus-unstable flux ropes fail to erupt. We find that such 'failed torus' events occur when the guide magnetic field (that is, the ambient field that runs toroidally along the flux rope) is strong enough to prevent the flux rope from kinking. Under these conditions, the guide field interacts with electric currents in the flux rope to produce a dynamic toroidal field tension force that halts the eruption. Lastly, this magnetic tension force is missing from existing eruption models, which is why such models cannot explain or predict failed torus events.},

  doi          = {10.1038/nature16188},

  journal      = {Nature (London)},

  number       = 7583,

  volume       = 528,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Wed Dec 23 00:00:00 EST 2015},

  month        = {Wed Dec 23 00:00:00 EST 2015}

}

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