Magnetic Helicity Flux Oscillations in the Atmospheres of Flaring and Nonflaring Active Regions

Abstract

Analyzing the evolution of magnetic helicity flux at different atmospheric heights is key for identifying its role in the dynamics of active regions (ARs). The three-dimensional (3D) magnetic field of both flaring and nonflaring ARs is constructed using potential field extrapolations, enabling the derivation of emergence, shearing, and total magnetic helicity components at a range of atmospheric heights. An analysis of temporal oscillations of the derived components shows that the largest significant period of the three helicity fluxes are common (within ±2 hr) from the photosphere up to at least 1 Mm for flaring ARs—being consistent with the presence of a coupled oscillatory behavior that is absent in the nonflaring ARs. We suggest that large, energetic solar eruptions may have been produced in ARs when the vertical and horizontal helicity flux components became a coupled oscillatory system in the low solar atmosphere.