Abstract
Abstract The X1 flare and associated filament eruption occurring in NOAA Active Region 12017 on SOL2014-03-29 has been a source of intense study. In this work, we analyze the results of a series of nonlinear force-free field extrapolations of the flare’s pre- and post-flare periods. In combination with observational data provided by the IRIS, Hinode, and Solar Dynamics Observatory missions, we have confirmed the existence of two flux ropes present within the active region prior to flaring. Of these two flux ropes, we find that intriguingly only one erupts during the X1 flare. We propose that the reason for this is due to tether cutting reconnection allowing one of the flux ropes to rise to a torus unstable region prior to flaring, thus allowing it to erupt during the subsequent flare.
Highlights
The rapid releases of magnetic energy observed as solar flares have long been associated with the eruption of plasma from the solar atmosphere
The field lines shown are plotted within the vicinity of the polarity inversion line, with the regions in which the field lines are plotted being kept constant in each extrapolation
We have presented an analysis of the pre-flare period of the X1 flare that occurred in active region (AR) 12017
Summary
The rapid releases of magnetic energy observed as solar flares have long been associated with the eruption of plasma from the solar atmosphere. Prior to flaring and eruption, the materials that subsequently erupt can be observed as structures known as filaments The plasma composing these filaments is thought to be suspended in magnetic structures known as flux ropes (e.g., Priest et al 1989; van Ballegooijen & Martens 1989). Recent work by Ishiguro & Kusano (2017) investigates the double arc instability (DAI) This instability, which is controlled by the current flowing in the flux rope, was produced as a result of tether cutting reconnection and not by the decay index, as in the case of the torus instability. In the actual solar atmosphere, it is likely that these processes act upon flux ropes at varying stages prior to and during eruption. Inoue (2016), for example, presents a detailed scenario in which a flare triggering process can lead to tether cutting reconnection, which can in turn deliver the flux rope into a torus unstable region where it erupts
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