Flux Cancellation Research Articles

Turbulent magnetic energy spectrum and the cancellation function of solar photospheric magnetic fields

AbstractA simple analytical relation of form α = 2κ – 1 between the magnetic energy spectral exponent α of the turbulent magnetic field in the solar photosphere and its magnetic flux cancellation exponent κ, valid under certain restrictive assumptions, is tested and extended outside its range of validity in a series of Monte Carlo simulations. In these numerical tests artificial “magnetograms” are constructed in 1D and 2D by superposing a discrete set of Fourier modes of the magnetic field distribution with amplitudes following a power law spectrum and measuring the cancellation function on these simulated magnetograms. Our results confirm the validity of the analytical relation and extend it to the domain α < –1 where κ → 0 as α → –∞. The observationally derived upper limit of 0.38 on κ implies α < –0.24 in the granular size range, apparently at odds with a small scale dynamo driven in the inertial range. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

OBSERVATIONS OF EUV RECURRING JETS IN AN ACTIVE REGION CONFINED BY CORONAL LOOPS

Recurring jets, which are jets ejected from the same site, are a peculiar type among various solar jet phenomena. We report such recurring jets ejecting from the same site above an active region on January 22, 2012 with high-resolution multi-wavelength observations from Solar Dynamics Observatory(SDO). We found that the recurring jets had velocities, lengths and lifetimes, but had similar directions. The visible brightening appeared at the jet base before each jet erupted. All the plasma produced by the recurring jets could not overcome the large coronal loops. It seemed that the plasma ejecting from the jet base was confined and guided by preexisting coronal loops, but their directions were not along the paths of the loops. Two of the jets formed crossing structures with the same preexisting filament. We also examined the photospheric magnetic field at the jet base, and observed a visible flux emergence, convergence and cancellation. The four recurring jets all were associated with the impulsive cancellation between two opposite polarities occurring at the jet base during each eruption. In addition, we suggest that the fluxes, flowing out of the active region, might supply the energy for the recurring jets by examining the SDO/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) successive images. The observational results support the magnetic reconnection model of jets.

도전성 및 자성 차폐체의 차폐효과 해석과 차폐인수 산정

In this study the method based on flux linkage in cell was introduced in calculation of eddy currents by cell method. According to this method eddy current distribution and the loss can be evaluated and since the shielding effectiveness by flux cancelation of eddy current can be analyzed, this method is applicable to design of conductive shield. And also the formula of shielding factor were so deduced as to be applicable to finite-width infinite-length shielding sheets and infinite-length underground cable shield. These formula are adaptable to magnetic materials as well as conductive materials. As the results of calculation in model shields are follows..<BR> In case of finite-width infinite-length shielding sheet, shielding effectiveness increases with increasing of conductivity. In case of infinite-length underground cable shield, the effectiveness become higher with increasing of permeability. Especially the effectiveness is very high in materials with both high conductivity and permeability in underground cable shield.

AN EXACT SOLUTION FOR MAGNETIC ANNIHILATION IN A CURVED CURRENT SHEET

An exact magnetohydrodynamic solution is presented for steady magnetic annihilation (merging) in an incompressible resistive viscous plasma. The merging, driven by an axisymmetric stagnation flow on a cylinder, takes place in a curved current sheet that is perpendicular to the plane in which the plasma flow stagnates. The new solution extends earlier models of flux pileup merging in a flat current sheet, driven by stagnation-point flows. The new solution remains valid in the presence of both the isotropic and anisotropic (parallel) plasma viscosity. The geometry of the solution may make it useful in modeling the photospheric flux cancellation on the Sun.

SOLAR MAGNETIC TRACKING. IV. THE DEATH OF MAGNETIC FEATURES

The removal of magnetic flux from the quiet-sun photosphere is important for maintaining the statistical steady-state of the magnetic field there, for determining the magnetic flux budget of the Sun, and for estimating the rate of energy injected into the upper solar atmosphere. Magnetic feature death is a measurable proxy for the removal of detectable flux. We used the SWAMIS feature tracking code to understand how nearly 20000 detected magnetic features die in an hour-long sequence of Hinode/SOT/NFI magnetograms of a region of quiet Sun. Of the feature deaths that remove visible magnetic flux from the photosphere, the vast majority do so by a process that merely disperses the previously-detected flux so that it is too small and too weak to be detected. The behavior of the ensemble average of these dispersals is not consistent with a model of simple planar diffusion, suggesting that the dispersal is constrained by the evolving photospheric velocity field. We introduce the concept of the partial lifetime of magnetic features, and show that the partial lifetime due to Cancellation of magnetic flux, 22 h, is 3 times slower than previous measurements of the flux turnover time. This indicates that prior feature-based estimates of the flux replacement time may be too short, in contrast with the tendency for this quantity to decrease as resolution and instrumentation have improved. This suggests that dispersal of flux to smaller scales is more important for the replacement of magnetic fields in the quiet Sun than observed bipolar cancellation. We conclude that processes on spatial scales smaller than those visible to Hinode dominate the processes of flux emergence and cancellation, and therefore also the quantity of magnetic flux that threads the photosphere.

ELLERMAN BOMBS AT HIGH RESOLUTION. II. TRIGGERING, VISIBILITY, AND EFFECT ON UPPER ATMOSPHERE

We use high-resolution imaging spectroscopy with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) to study the transient brightenings of the wings of the Balmer Halpha line in emerging active regions that are called Ellerman bombs. Simultaneous sampling of Ca II 854.2 nm with the SST confirms that most Ellerman bombs occur also in the wings of this line, but with markedly different morphology. Simultaneous images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) show that Ellerman bombs are also detectable in the photospheric 170 nm continuum, again with differing morphology. They are also observable in 160 nm SDO images, but with much contamination from C IV emission in transition-region features. Simultaneous SST spectropolarimetry in Fe I 630.1 nm shows that Ellerman bombs occur at sites of strong-field magnetic flux cancelation between small bipolar strong-field patches that rapidly move together over the solar surface. Simultaneous SDO images in He II 30.4 nm, Fe IX 17.1 nm, and Fe XIV 21.1 nm show no clear effect of the Ellerman bombs on the overlying transition region and corona. These results strengthen our earlier suggestion, based on Halpha morphology alone, that the Ellerman bomb phenomenon is a purely photospheric reconnection phenomenon.

MOVING MAGNETIC FEATURES AROUND AR 10930 FROM HIGH-RESOLUTION DATA OBSERVED BYHINODE/SOT

We investigate the origin, configuration, and evolution of moving magnetic features (MMFs) in the moat and penumbra regions of NOAA AR 10930 using Hinode/SOT filtergrams and magnetograms. We differentiate MMFs into four types in terms of the location of first appearance and the source of initial flux. The main results are summed up as follows: (1) 50% of the MMFs are produced from or within the penumbra, while 50% are produced within the moat. The MMFs formed in the penumbra normally move outward along radial directions. The MMFs formed in the moat have more dispersed directions of motion. The average speed of most MMFs decreases radially. (2) About 63% of moat fluxes are input by flux emergences. Newly emerged MMFs are normally smaller in size. In their rise phase, they gain flux by adding newly emerging flux or merging other elements, and in the decline phase they lose flux by flux cancellation or fragmentation. The MMFs that are fragments separated from penumbra or other magnetic elements usually have larger flux and longer lifetime. They start their decay process once they are formed. Frequent merging and flux cancellation between MMFs are the dominant factors in MMFs' evolution. (3) Cancellations between opposite-polaritymore » magnetic elements are responsible for most of the low chromospheric bright points. Bipole emergence and MMFs' severance from the penumbra also produce bright points. Elongated or horn-shaped micro-filaments may appear during the separation or cancellation process between magnetic elements.« less

The physical mechanisms that initiate and drive solar eruptions

AbstractSolar eruptions are due to a sudden destabilization of force-free coronal magnetic fields. But the detailed mechanisms which can bring the corona towards an eruptive stage, then trigger and drive the eruption, and finally make it explosive, are not fully understood. A large variety of storage-and-release models have been developed and opposed to each other since 40 years. For example, photospheric flux emergence vs. flux cancellation, localized coronal reconnection vs. large-scale ideal instabilities and loss of equilibria, tether-cutting vs. breakout reconnection, and so on. The competition between all these approaches has led to a tremendous drive in developing and testing all these concepts, by coupling state-of-the-art models and observations. Thanks to these developments, it now becomes possible to compare all these models with one another, and to revisit their interpretation in light of their common and their different behaviors. This approach leads me to argue that no more than two distinct physical mechanisms can actually initiate and drive prominence eruptions: themagnetic breakoutand thetorus instability. In this view, all other processes (including flux emergence, flux cancellation, flare reconnection and long-range couplings) should be considered as various ways that lead to, or that strengthen, one of the aforementioned driving mechanisms.

Where Do Solar Filaments Form?

AbstractIn the present study, we consider where large, stable solar filaments form relative to underlying magnetic polarities. We find that 92% of all large stable filaments form in magnetic configurations involving the interaction of two or more bipoles. Only 7% form above the Polarity Inversion Line (PIL) of a single bipole. This indicates that a key element in the formation of large-scale stable filaments is the convergence of magnetic flux, resulting in either flux cancellation or coronal reconnection.

Observations of flux rope formation prior to coronal mass ejections

AbstractUnderstanding the magnetic configuration of the source regions of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is vital in order to determine the trigger and driver of these events. Observations of four CME productive active regions are presented here, which indicate that the pre-eruption magnetic configuration is that of a magnetic flux rope. The flux ropes are formed in the solar atmosphere by the process known as flux cancellation and are stable for several hours before the eruption. The observations also indicate that the magnetic structure that erupts is not the entire flux rope as initially formed, raising the question of whether the flux rope is able to undergo a partial eruption or whether it undergoes a transition in specific flux rope configuration shortly before the CME.

FIP bias in a sigmoidal active region

AbstractWe investigate first ionization potential (FIP) bias levels in an anemone active region (AR) - coronal hole (CH) complex using an abundance map derived from Hinode/EIS spectra. The detailed, spatially resolved abundance map has a large field of view covering 359″ × 485″. Plasma with high FIP bias, or coronal abundances, is concentrated at the footpoints of the AR loops whereas the surrounding CH has a low FIP bias, ~1, i.e. photospheric abundances. A channel of low FIP bias is located along the AR's main polarity inversion line containing a filament where ongoing flux cancellation is observed, indicating a bald patch magnetic topology characteristic of a sigmoid/flux rope configuration.

Fe XII STALKS AND THE ORIGIN OF THE AXIAL FIELD IN FILAMENT CHANNELS

Employing Fe XII images and line-of-sight magnetograms, we deduce the direction of the axial field in high-latitude filament channels from the orientation of the adjacent stalklike structures. Throughout the rising phase of the current solar cycle 24, filament channels poleward of latitude 30° overwhelmingly obeyed the hemispheric chirality rule, being dextral (sinistral) in the northern (southern) hemisphere, corresponding to negative (positive) helicity. During the deep minimum of 2007-2009, the orientation of the Fe XII stalks was often difficult to determine, but no obvious violations of the rule were found. Although the hemispheric trend was still present during the maximum and early declining phase of cycle 23 (2000-2003), several high-latitude exceptions were identified at that time. From the observation that dextral (sinistral) filament channels form through the decay of active regions whose Fe XII features show a counterclockwise (clockwise) whorl, we conclude that the axial field direction is determined by the intrinsic helicity of the active regions. In contrast, generation of the axial field component by the photospheric differential rotation is difficult to reconcile with the observed chirality of polar crown and circular filament channels, and with the presence of filament channels along the equator. The main role of differential rotation in filament channel formation is to expedite the cancellation of flux and thus the removal of the transverse field component. We propose further that, rather than being ejected into the heliosphere, the axial field is eventually resubmerged by flux cancellation as the adjacent unipolar regions become increasingly mixed.

Downflow-induced brightening following a filament eruption

The plasma from solar filament eruptions sometimes falls down to the lower solar atmosphere. These interesting events can help us to understand the properties of downflows, such as the temperature and the conversion between kinetic energy and thermal energy. We analyze the case of a filament eruption in active region NOAA 11283 and brightening caused by the return of filament material on September 7 and 8, 2011, observed by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) and the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Magnetic flux cancellation was observed as a result of the eruption after the eruptive filament started to ascend. Another filament near the eruptive filament was disturbed by an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wave that was triggered by the eruptive filament, causing it to oscillate. Based on coronal seismology, the mean magnetic field strength in the oscillatory filament was estimated to be approximately 18±2G. Some plasma separated from the filament and fell down to the solar northwest surface after the filament eruption. The velocities of the downflows increased at accelerations lower than the gravitational acceleration. The main characteristic temperature of the downflows was about 5×104K. When the plasma blobs fell down to lower atmospheric heights, the high-speed downward-travelling plasma collided with plasma at lower atmospheric heights, causing the plasma to brighten. The brightening was observed in all 8AIA channels, demonstrating that the temperature of the plasma in the brightening covered a wide range of values, from 105K to 107K. This brightening indicates the conversion between kinetic energy and thermal energy.

Design and Performance Evaluation of a 200 °C Interleaved Boost Converter

Recent advances in silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor technology and resulting availability of SiC Schottky rectifiers and controlled devices (bipolar junction transistors, JFETs, and MOSFETs) make it possible to design and implement power converters capable of operating at 200 °C. The design, prototype development, operation, and testing of a 74 kHz, 2 kW, 100 V/270 V inversely coupled, interleaved, dc–dc boost converter over the 20–200 °C temperature range is presented in this paper. The advantages of coupled-inductor interleaved boost converters include increased efficiency, reduced size, reduced electromagnetic emission, faster transient response, and improved reliability. Optimization of a high temperature X-perm core-based coupled inductor architecture, in terms of ac flux balancing and dc flux cancellation is discussed. DC characterization of SiC power devices used in the design (Schottky rectifier and JFET) over the 20–200 °C temperature range is presented as well. The power stage of the converter, including the power semiconductor devices, coupled inductor, and X7R ceramic input and output filter capacitors, was placed inside a temperature controlled chamber for testing. JFET gate drive circuit, input power source, and output load were external to the environmental chamber. Converter testing and performance evaluation was accomplished over a 20–200 °C ambient temperature range. As expected, JFET conduction loss increased and converter efficiency decreased with increasing temperatures. The drop in converter efficiency was in the range of 2%–4% over the entire load (200 W to 2 kW) and temperature (20–200 °C) ranges evaluated. At 200 °C, output voltage ripple increased by ∼60% due to the rapid decline in X7R capacitance at the high-temperature extreme. The results obtained during this study suggest that the realization of 200 °C power converters is feasible through a judicious selection of power semiconductor devices, magnetic core materials, and capacitor dielectrics. As a result, high temperature, frequency, and power density converters are expected to be a reality in the near future.

A MAGNETIC CALIBRATION OF PHOTOSPHERIC DOPPLER VELOCITIES

The zero point of measured photospheric Doppler shifts is uncertain for at least two reasons: instrumental variations (from, e.g., thermal drifts), and the convective blueshift, a known correlation between intensity and upflows. Calibrated Doppler velocities would be useful for (i) improving estimates of the Poynting flux of magnetic energy across the photosphere, and (ii) constraining processes underlying flux cancellation, the mutual apparent loss of magnetic flux in closely spaced, opposite-polarity magnetogram features. We present a method to absolutely calibrate line-of-sight (LOS) velocities in solar active regions (ARs) near disk center using three successive vector magnetograms and one Dopplergram coincident with the central magnetogram. It exploits the fact that Doppler shifts measured along polarity inversion lines (PILs) of the LOS magnetic field determine one component of the velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field, and optimizes consistency between changes in LOS flux near PILs and the transport of transverse magnetic flux by LOS velocities, assuming ideal electric fields govern the magnetic evolution. We apply our method to vector magnetograms of AR 11158, observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory, and find clear evidence of offsets in the Doppler zero point, in the range of 50 -- 550 m s$^{-1}$. In addition, we note that a simpler calibration can be determined from an LOS magnetogram and Dopplergram pair from the median Doppler velocity among all near-disk-center PIL pixels. We briefly discuss shortcomings in our initial implementation, and suggest ways to address these. In addition, as a step in our data reduction, we discuss use of temporal continuity in the transverse magnetic field direction to correct apparently spurious fluctuations in resolution of the 180$^\circ$ ambiguity.

Magnetic Flux Changes and Cancellation Associated with X-Class and M-Class Flares

We perform a statistical study of permanent changes in longitudinal fields associated with solar flares by tracking magnetic features. The YAFTA feature tracking algorithm is applied to GONG++ one-minute magnetograms for 77 X-class and M-class flares to analyze the evolution and interaction of the magnetic features and to estimate the amount of canceled magnetic flux. We find that significantly more magnetic flux decreases than increases occurred during the flares, consistent with a model of collapsing loop structure for flares. Correlations between both total (unsigned) and net (signed) flux changes and the GOES peak X-ray flux are dominated by X-class flares at limb locations. The flux changes were accompanied in most cases by significant cancellation, most of which occurred during the flares. We find that the field strength and complexity near the polarity inversion line are approximately equally important in the flux cancellation processes that accompany the flares. We do not find a correlation between the flux cancellation events and the stepwise changes in the magnetic flux in the region.

AN EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET WAVE ASSOCIATED WITH A SURGE

Taking advantage of the high temporal and spatial resolution observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, we present an extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) wave associated with a surge on 2010 November 13. Due to the magnetic flux cancelation, some surges formed in the source active region (AR). The strongest surge produced our studied event. The surge was deflected by the nearby loops that connected to another AR, and disrupted the overlying loops that slowly expanded and eventually evolved into a weak coronal mass ejection (CME). The surge was likely associated with the core of the CME. The EUV wave happened after the surge deflected. The wave departed far from the flare center and showed a close location relative to the deflected surge. The wave propagated in a narrow angular extent, mainly in the ejection direction of the surge. The close timing and location relations between the EUV wave and the surge indicate that the wave was closely associated with the CME. The wave had a velocity of 310-350 km s(-1), while the speeds of the surge and the expanding loops were about 130 and 150 km s(-1), respectively. All of the results suggest that the EUV wave was a fast-mode wave and was most likely triggered by the weak CME.

TRANSIENT BRIGHTENINGS ASSOCIATED WITH FLUX CANCELLATION ALONG A FILAMENT CHANNEL

Filament channels coincide with large-scale polarity inversion lines of the photospheric magnetic field, where flux cancellation continually takes place. High-cadence Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) images recorded in He II 30.4?nm and Fe IX 17.1?nm during 2010 August 22 reveal numerous transient brightenings occurring along the edge of a filament channel within a decaying active region, where SDO line-of-sight magnetograms show strong opposite-polarity flux in close contact. The brightenings are elongated along the direction of the filament channel, with linear extents of several arcseconds, and typically last a few minutes; they sometimes have the form of multiple two-sided ejections with speeds on the order of 100?km s?1. Remarkably, some of the brightenings rapidly develop into larger scale events, forming sheetlike structures that are eventually torn apart by the diverging flows in the filament channel and ejected in opposite directions. We interpret the brightenings as resulting from reconnections among filament-channel field lines having one footpoint located in the region of canceling flux. In some cases, the flow patterns that develop in the channel may bring successive horizontal loops together and cause a cascade to larger scales.

Quiet Sun Explosive Events: Jets, Splashes, and Eruptions

Explosive events appear as broad non-Gaussian wings in the line profiles of small transition-region phenomena. Images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) give a first view of the plasma dynamics at the sites of explosive events seen simultaneously in O vi spectra of a region of quiet Sun, taken with the ultraviolet spectrometer Solar Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Distinct event bursts were seen either at the junction of supergranular network cells or near emerging flux. Three are described in the context of their surrounding transition region (304 Å) and coronal (171 Å) activity. One showed plasma ejections from an isolated pair of sites, with a time lag of 50 seconds between events. At the site where the later explosive event was seen, the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images show a hot core surrounded by a small, expanding ring of chromospheric emission, which we interpret as a “splash.” The second explosive-event burst was related to flux cancellation, inferred from Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) magnetograms, and a coronal dimming surrounded by a ring of bright EUV emission with explosive events at positions where the spectrometer slit crossed the bright ring. The third series of events occurred at the base of a slow, small coronal mass ejection (mini-CME). All events studied here imply jet-like flows probably triggered by magnetic reconnection at supergranular junctions. Events come from sites close to the footpoints of jets seen in Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) images, and possibly from the landing site of high-velocity flows. They are not caused by rapid rotation in spicules.

COMPOSITION STRUCTURE OF INTERPLANETARY CORONAL MASS EJECTIONS FROM MULTISPACECRAFT OBSERVATIONS, MODELING, AND COMPARISON WITH NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS

We present an analysis of the ionic composition of iron for two interplanetary coronal mass ejections observed in May 21-23 2007 by the ACE and STEREO spacecraft in the context of the magnetic structure of the ejecta flux rope, sheath region, and surrounding solar wind flow. This analysis is made possible due to recent advances in multispacecraft data interpolation, reconstruction, and visualization as well as results from recent modeling of ionic charge states in MHD simulations of magnetic breakout and flux cancellation CME initiation. We use these advances to interpret specific features of the ICME plasma composition resulting from the magnetic topology and evolution of the CME. We find that in both the data and our MHD simulations, the flux ropes centers are relatively cool, while charge state enhancements surround and trail the flux ropes. The magnetic orientation of the ICMEs are suggestive of magnetic breakout-like reconnection during the eruption process, which could explain the spatial location of the observed iron enhancements just outside the traditional flux rope magnetic signatures and between the two ICMEs. Detailed comparisons between the simulations and data were more complicated, but a sharp increase in high iron charge states in the ACE and STEREO-A data during the second flux rope corresponds well to similar features in the flux cancellation results. We discuss the prospects of this integrated in-situ data analysis and modeling approach to advancing our understanding of the unified CME-to-ICME evolution.