MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMIC MODELING FOR A FORMATION PROCESS OF CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS: INTERACTION BETWEEN AN EJECTING FLUX ROPE AND AN AMBIENT FIELD

Journal Article · Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1305· OSTI ID:21455061

Shiota, Daikou ^[1]; Kusano, Kanya ^[2]; Miyoshi, Takahiro ^[3]; Shibata, Kazunari ^[4]

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1. Advanced Science Institute, RIKEN (Institute of Physics and Chemical Research), Wako, Saitama 351-0198 (Japan)
2. Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601 (Japan)
3. Graduate School of Science, Hiroshima University, Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8526 (Japan)
4. Kwasan and Hida Observatories, Kyoto University, Yamashina, Kyoto 607-8471 (Japan)

We performed a magnetohydrodynamic simulation of a formation process of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), focusing on the interaction (reconnection) between an ejecting flux rope and its ambient field. We examined three cases with different ambient fields: one had no ambient field, while the other two had dipole fields with opposite directions, parallel and anti-parallel to that of the flux rope surface. We found that while the flux rope disappears in the anti-parallel case, in the other cases the flux ropes can evolve to CMEs and show different amounts of flux rope rotation. The results imply that the interaction between an ejecting flux rope and its ambient field is an important process for determining CME formation and CME orientation, and also show that the amount and direction of the magnetic flux within the flux rope and the ambient field are key parameters for CME formation. The interaction (reconnection) plays a significant role in the rotation of the flux rope especially with a process similar to 'tilting instability' in a spheromak-type experiment of laboratory plasma.

• OSTI ID: 21455061
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 718, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/718/2/1305; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
MAGNETIC FLUX
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MASS
PLASMA
ROTATION
SIMULATION
SOLAR CORONA
SUN
ATMOSPHERES
FLUID MECHANICS
HYDRODYNAMICS
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MECHANICS
MOTION
SOLAR ATMOSPHERE
STARS
STELLAR ATMOSPHERES
STELLAR CORONAE