Eruption of a Magnetic Flux Rope in a Comprehensive Radiative Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of Flare-productive Active Regions

Abstract

Radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulation includes sufficiently realistic physics to allow for the synthesis of remote sensing observables that can be quantitatively compared with observations. We analyze the largest flare in a simulation of the emergence of large flare-productive active regions described by Chen et al. The flare releases 4.5 × 1031 erg of magnetic energy and is accompanied by a spectacular coronal mass ejection. Synthetic soft X-ray flux of this flare reaches M2 class. The eruption reproduces many key features of observed solar eruptions. A preexisting magnetic flux rope is formed along the highly sheared polarity inversion line between a sunspot pair and is covered by an overlying multipole magnetic field. During the eruption, the progenitor flux rope actively reconnects with the canopy field and evolves to the large-scale multithermal flux rope that is observed in the corona. Meanwhile, the magnetic energy released via reconnection is channeled down to the lower atmosphere and gives rise to bright soft X-ray post-flare loops and flare ribbons that reproduce the morphology and dynamic evolution of observed flares. The model helps to shed light on questions of where and when the a flux rope may form and how the magnetic structures in an eruption are related to observable emission properties.