@article{LeeWhiteLiuetal.2018, author = {Lee, Jeongwoo and White, Stephen M. and Liu, Chang and Kliem, Bernhard and Masuda, Satoshi}, title = {Magnetic Structure of a Composite Solar Microwave Burst}, series = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, volume = {856}, journal = {The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics}, number = {1}, publisher = {IOP Publ. Ltd.}, address = {Bristol}, issn = {0004-637X}, doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aaadbc}, pages = {10}, year = {2018}, abstract = {A composite flare consisting of an impulsive flare SOL2015-06-21T01:42 (GOES class M2.0) and a more gradual, long-duration flare SOL2015-06-21T02:36 (M2.6) from NOAA Active Region 12371, is studied using observations with the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). While composite flares are defined by their characteristic time profiles, in this paper we present imaging observations that demonstrate the spatial relationship of the two flares and allow us to address the nature of the evolution of a composite event. The NoRH maps show that the first flare is confined not only in time, but also in space, as evidenced by the stagnation of ribbon separation and the stationarity of the microwave source. The NoRH also detected another microwave source during the second flare, emerging from a different location where thermal plasma is so depleted that accelerated electrons could survive longer against Coulomb collisional loss. The AIA 131 angstrom images show that a sigmoidal EUV hot channel developed after the first flare and erupted before the second flare. We suggest that this eruption removed the high-lying flux to let the separatrix dome underneath reconnect with neighboring flux and the second microwave burst follow. This scenario explains how the first microwave burst is related to the much-delayed second microwave burst in this composite event.}, language = {en} } @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} }