Self‐Consistent Magnetohydrodynamic Modeling of a Coronal Mass Ejection, Coronal Dimming, and a Giant Cusp‐shaped Arcade Formation

Abstract

We performed magnetohydrodynamic simulations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and associated giant arcade formations, and the results suggest new interpretations of observations of CMEs. We performed two cases of the simulation: with and without heat conduction. Comparing between the results of the two cases, we found that the reconnection rate in the conductive case is a little higher than that in the adiabatic case and that the temperature of the loop top is consistent with the theoretical value predicted by the Yokoyama-Shibata scaling law. The dynamical properties such as velocity and magnetic field are similar in the two cases, whereas thermal properties such as temperature and density are very different. In both cases, slow shocks associated with magnetic reconnection propagate from the reconnection region along the magnetic field lines around the flux rope, and the shock fronts form spiral patterns. Just outside the slow shocks, the plasma density decreases greatly. The soft X-ray images synthesized from the numerical results are compared with the soft X-ray images of a giant arcade observed with the Soft X-Ray Telescope aboard Yohkoh; it is confirmed that the effect of heat conduction is significant for the detailed comparison between simulation and observation. The comparison between synthesized and observed soft X-ray images provides new interpretations of various features associated with CMEs and giant arcades. (1) It is likely that the Y-shaped ejecting structure, observed in the giant arcade on 1992 January 24, corresponds to slow and fast shocks associated with magnetic reconnection. (2) Soft X-ray twin dimming corresponds to the rarefaction induced by reconnection. (3) The inner boundary of the dimming region corresponds to the slow shocks. (4) The three-part structure of a CME can be explained by our numerical results. (5) The numerical results also suggest that a backbone feature of a flare/giant arcade may correspond to the fast shock formed by the collision of the downward reconnection outflow.