Abstract
AbstractIn this paper, we investigate the evolution of braided solar coronal loops. We assume that coronal loops consist of several internal strands which twist and braid about each other. Reconnection between the strands leads to small flares and heating of the loop to x-ray temperatures. Using a method of generating and releasing braid structure similar to a forest fire model, we show that the reconnected field lines evolve to a self-organised critical state. In this state, the frequency distributions of coherent braid sequences as well as flare energies follow power law distributions. We demonstrate how the presence of net helicity in the loop alters the distribution laws.
Highlights
It was realised many years ago that the solar corona is some 200 times hotter than the underlying photosphere
The footpoint motions are caused by interactions of granule and supergranule convective flows with magnetic flux elements at the photosphere
The photospheric magnetic field appears in discrete flux elements
Summary
It was realised many years ago that the solar corona is some 200 times hotter than the underlying photosphere. Considering the fact that the corona is heated by many small events, be it bursty heating events as a result of nonlinear interactions between the Alfven waves in Alfven wave turbulence model (van Ballegooijen et al 2011) or nanoflare events, the magnetic field is thought to behave analogous to that of the sandpile and have a local instability, can be driven to a self-organised critical state. This image shows the complex structure of solar magnetic strands in a high spatial resolution, it is still difficult to follow individual strands from one end to the other end
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