Observations of Unresolved Photospheric Magnetic Fields in Solar Flares Using Fe i and Cr i Lines

Abstract

The structure of the photospheric magnetic field during solar flares is examined using echelle spectropolarimetric observations. The study is based on several Fe I and Cr I lines observed at locations corresponding to brightest H$\alpha$ emission during thermal phase of flares. The analysis is performed by comparing magnetic field values deduced from lines with different magnetic sensitivities, as well as by examining the fine structure of $I\pm V$ Stokes profiles splitting. It is shown that the field has at least two components, with stronger unresolved flux tubes embedded in weaker ambient field. Based on a two-component magnetic field model, we compare observed and synthetic line profiles and show that the field strength in small-scale flux tubes is about $2-3$ kG. Furthermore, we find that the small-scale flux tubes are associated with flare emission, which may have implications for flare phenomenology.