Solar flare theory and light curves

Abstract

During the last few years several models have been developed to explain the onset and energy release in large, eruptive solar flares. Although there is no consensus yet about the precise mechanism which triggers the onset of an eruption, there is a consensus that the mechanism involves the release of magnetic energy stored in the solar corona. Several of the proposed models use an ideal-MHD loss of equilibrium to trigger the eruption, but these models still require magnetic reconnection to extract the bulk of the magnetic energy. Coupling the ideal loss-of-equilibrium process with the non-ideal reconnection processes, and incorporating thermal conduction, chromospheric evaporation, and radiative cooling, shows great promise as a way to account for the light curves of both solar and stellar flares.