@article{LiuKliemTitovetal.2016, author = {Liu, Rui and Kliem, Bernhard and Titov, Viacheslav S. and Chen, Jun and Wang, Yuming and Wang, Haimin and Liu, Chang and Xu, Yan and Wiegelmann, Thomas}, title = {STRUCTURE, STABILITY, AND EVOLUTION OF MAGNETIC FLUX ROPES FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF MAGNETIC TWIST}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, volume = {818}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {0004-637X}, doi = {10.3847/0004-637X/818/2/148}, pages = {22}, year = {2016}, abstract = {We investigate the evolution of NOAA Active Region (AR) 11817 during 2013 August 10-12, when it developed a complex field configuration and produced four confined, followed by two eruptive, flares. These C-and-above flares are all associated with a magnetic flux rope (MFR) located along the major polarity inversion line, where shearing and converging photospheric flows are present. Aided by the nonlinear force-free field modeling, we identify the MFR through mapping magnetic connectivities and computing the twist number \${{ \mathcal T }}_{w}\$ for each individual field line. The MFR is moderately twisted (\$| {{ \mathcal T }}_{w}| \lt 2\$) and has a well-defined boundary of high squashing factor Q. We found that the field line with the extremum \$| {{ \mathcal T }}_{w}| \$ is a reliable proxy of the rope axis, and that the MFR's peak \$| {{ \mathcal T }}_{w}| \$ temporarily increases within half an hour before each flare while it decreases after the flare peak for both confined and eruptive flares. This pre-flare increase in \$| {{ \mathcal T }}_{w}| \$ has little effect on the AR's free magnetic energy or any other parameters derived for the whole region, due to its moderate amount and the MFR's relatively small volume, while its decrease after flares is clearly associated with the stepwise decrease in the whole region's free magnetic energy due to the flare. We suggest that \${{ \mathcal T }}_{w}\$ may serve as a useful parameter in forewarning the onset of eruption, and therefore, the consequent space weather effects. The helical kink instability is identified as the prime candidate onset mechanism for the considered flares.}, language = {en} } @article{XueYanChengetal.2016, author = {Xue, Zhike and Yan, Xiaoli and Cheng, Xin and Yang, Liheng and Su, Yingna and Kliem, Bernhard and Zhang, Jun and Liu, Zhong and Bi, Yi and Xiang, Yongyuan and Yang, Kai and Zhao, Li}, title = {Observing the release of twist by magnetic reconnection in a solar filament eruption}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {7}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Nature Publ. Group}, address = {London}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/ncomms11837}, pages = {11}, year = {2016}, abstract = {Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process of topology change and energy release, taking place in plasmas on the Sun, in space, in astrophysical objects and in the laboratory. However, observational evidence has been relatively rare and typically only partial. Here we present evidence of fast reconnection in a solar filament eruption using high-resolution H-alpha images from the New Vacuum Solar Telescope, supplemented by extreme ultraviolet observations. The reconnection is seen to occur between a set of ambient chromospheric fibrils and the filament itself. This allows for the relaxation of magnetic tension in the filament by an untwisting motion, demonstrating a flux rope structure. The topology change and untwisting are also found through nonlinear force-free field modelling of the active region in combination with magnetohydrodynamic simulation. These results demonstrate a new role for reconnection in solar eruptions: the release of magnetic twist.}, language = {en} } @article{HassaninKliemSeehafer2016, author = {Hassanin, Alshaimaa and Kliem, Bernhard and Seehafer, Norbert}, title = {Helical kink instability in the confined solar eruption on 2002 May 27}, series = {Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes}, volume = {337}, journal = {Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes}, publisher = {Wiley-VCH}, address = {Weinheim}, issn = {0004-6337}, doi = {10.1002/asna.201612446}, pages = {1082 -- 1089}, year = {2016}, language = {en} }