Plasmoid-mediated reconnection in solar UV bursts

Peter, H.; Huang, Y. -M.; Chitta, L. P.; Young, P. R.

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935820

Title: Plasmoid-mediated reconnection in solar UV bursts

Journal Article · 25 July 2019 · Astronomy and Astrophysics

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935820 · OSTI ID:1604409

^[1]; Huang, Y. -M. ^[2];

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Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Gottingen (Germany)
Max-Planck-Princeton Center for Plasma Physics, Princeton, NJ (United States); Princeton Univ., Princeton, NJ (United States)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States); Northumbria Univ., Newcastle Upon Tyne (United Kingdom)

Ultraviolet bursts are transients in the solar atmosphere with an increased impulsive emission in the extreme UV lasting for one to several tens of minutes. They often show spectral profiles indicative of a bi-directional outflow in response to magnetic reconnection. To understand UV bursts, we study how motions of magnetic elements at the surface can drive the self-consistent formation of a current sheet resulting in plasmoid-mediated reconnection. In particular, we want to study the role of the height of the reconnection in the atmosphere. We conducted numerical experiments solving the 2D magnetohydrodynamic equations from the solar surface to the upper atmosphere. Motivated by observations, we drove a small magnetic patch embedded in a larger system of magnetic field of opposite polarity. This type of configuration creates an X-type neutral point in the initial potential field. The models are characterized by the (average) plasma-β at the height of this X point. The driving at the surface stretches the X-point into a thin current sheet, where plasmoids appear, accelerating the reconnection, and a bi-directional jet forms. This is consistent with what is expected for UV bursts or explosive events, and we provide a self-consistent model of the formation of the reconnection region in such events. The gravitational stratification gives a natural explanation for why explosive events are restricted to a temperature range around a few 0.1 MK, and the presence of plasmoids in the reconnection process provides an understanding of the observed variability during the transient events on a timescale of minutes. Our numerical experiments provide a comprehensive understanding of UV bursts and explosive events, in particular of how the atmospheric response changes if the reconnection happens at different plasma-β, that is, at different heights in the atmosphere. This analysis also gives new insight into how UV bursts might be related to the photospheric Ellerman bombs.

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Research Organization:: Princeton Univ., NJ (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; European Union (EU); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)

Contributing Organization:: 80NSSC18K1285; NNX15AF48G; AGS-1460169

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0016470; 707837; NNX15AF48G; AGS-1460169

OSTI ID:: 1604409

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1557560

Journal Information:: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol. 628; ISSN 0004-6361

Publisher:: EDP SciencesCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 30 works

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Cited By (4)

Scalings pertaining to current sheet disruption mediated by the plasmoid instability Huang, Yi-Min; Comisso, Luca; Bhattacharjee, Amitava Physics of Plasmas, Vol. 26, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5110332	journal	September 2019
Fine-scale Explosive Energy Release at Sites of Prospective Magnetic Flux Cancellation in the Core of the Solar Active Region Observed by Hi-C 2.1, IRIS , and SDO Tiwari, Sanjiv K.; Panesar, Navdeep K.; Moore, Ronald L. The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 887, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab54c1	journal	December 2019
Scalings Pertaining to Current Sheet Disruption Mediated by the Plasmoid Instability Huang, Yi-Min; Comisso, Luca; Bhattacharjee, Amitava arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1909.02970	text	January 2019
Fine-scale explosive energy release at sites of prospective magnetic flux cancellation in the core of the solar active region observed by Hi-C 2.1, IRIS and SDO Tiwari, Sanjiv K.; Panesar, Navdeep K.; Moore, Ronald L. arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.1911.01424	text	January 2019

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