TY - JOUR A1 - Török, Tibor A1 - Berger, Mitch A. A1 - Kliem, Bernhard T1 - The writhe of helical structures in the solar corona N2 - Context. Helicity is a fundamental property of magnetic fields, conserved in ideal MHD. In flux rope geometry, it consists of twist and writhe helicity. Despite the common occurrence of helical structures in the solar atmosphere, little is known about how their shape relates to the writhe, which fraction of helicity is contained in writhe, and how much helicity is exchanged between twist and writhe when they erupt. Aims. Here we perform a quantitative investigation of these questions relevant for coronal flux ropes. Methods. The decomposition of the writhe of a curve into local and nonlocal components greatly facilitates its computation. We use it to study the relation between writhe and projected S shape of helical curves and to measure writhe and twist in numerical simulations of flux rope instabilities. The results are discussed with regard to filament eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Results. (1) We demonstrate that the relation between writhe and projected S shape is not unique in principle, but that the ambiguity does not affect low- lying structures, thus supporting the established empirical rule which associates stable forward (reverse) S shaped structures low in the corona with positive (negative) helicity. (2) Kink-unstable erupting flux ropes are found to transform a far smaller fraction of their twist helicity into writhe helicity than often assumed. (3) Confined flux rope eruptions tend to show stronger writhe at low heights than ejective eruptions (CMEs). This argues against suggestions that the writhing facilitates the rise of the rope through the overlying field. (4) Erupting filaments which are S shaped already before the eruption and keep the sign of their axis writhe (which is expected if field of one chirality dominates the source volume of the eruption), must reverse their S shape in the course of the rise. Implications for the occurrence of the helical kink instability in such events are discussed. (5) The writhe of rising loops can easily be estimated from the angle of rotation about the direction of ascent, once the apex height exceeds the footpoint separation significantly. Conclusions. Writhe can straightforwardly be computed for numerical data and can often be estimated from observations. It is useful in interpreting S shaped coronal structures and in constraining models of eruptions. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://dispatch.opac.d-nb.de/DB=1.1/SET=4/TTL=1/SHW?FRST=1&PRS=HOL U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/200913578 SN - 0004-6361 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dalmasse, Kevin A1 - Aulanier, Guillaume A1 - Demoulin, Pascal A1 - Kliem, Bernhard A1 - Török, Tibor A1 - Pariat, E. T1 - The origin of net electric currents in solar active regions JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - There is a recurring question in solar physics regarding whether or not electric currents are neutralized in active regions (ARs). This question was recently revisited using three-dimensional (3D) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations of magnetic flux emergence into the solar atmosphere. Such simulations showed that flux emergence can generate a substantial net current in ARs. Other sources of AR currents are photospheric horizontal flows. Our aim is to determine the conditions for the occurrence of net versus neutralized currents with this second mechanism. Using 3D MHD simulations, we systematically impose line-tied, quasi-static, photospheric twisting and shearing motions to a bipolar potential magnetic field. We find that such flows: (1) produce both direct and return currents, (2) induce very weak compression currents-not observed in 2.5D-in the ambient field present in the close vicinity of the current-carrying field, and (3) can generate force-free magnetic fields with a net current. We demonstrate that neutralized currents are in general produced only in the absence of magnetic shear at the photospheric polarity inversion line-a special condition that is rarely observed. We conclude that. photospheric flows,. as magnetic flux emergence, can build up net currents in the solar atmosphere, in agreement with recent observations. These results thus provide support for eruption models based on pre-eruption magnetic fields that possess a net coronal current. KW - magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) KW - Sun: corona KW - Sun: coronal mass ejections (CMEs) KW - Sun: flares Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/810/1/17 SN - 0004-637X SN - 1538-4357 VL - 810 IS - 1 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valori, Gherardo A1 - Kliem, Bernhard A1 - Török, Tibor A1 - Titov, Viacheslav S. T1 - Testing magnetofrictional extrapolation with the Titov-Demoulin model of solar active regions N2 - We examine the nonlinear magnetofrictional extrapolation scheme using the solar active region model by Titov and Demoulin as test field. This model consists of an arched, line-tied current channel held in force-free equilibrium by the potential field of a bipolar flux distribution in the bottom boundary. A modified version with a parabolic current density profile is employed here. We find that the equilibrium is reconstructed with very high accuracy in a representative range of parameter space, using only the vector field in the bottom boundary as input. Structural features formed in the interface between the flux rope and the surrounding arcade - "hyperbolic flux tube" and "bald patch separatrix surface" - are reliably reproduced, as are the flux rope twist and the energy and helicity of the configuration. This demonstrates that force-free fields containing these basic structural elements of solar active regions can be obtained by extrapolation. The influence of the chosen initial condition on the accuracy of reconstruction is also addressed, confirming that the initial field that best matches the external potential field of the model quite naturally leads to the best reconstruction. Extrapolating the magnetogram of a Titov-Demoulin equilibrium in the unstable range of parameter space yields a sequence of two opposing evolutionary phases, which clearly indicate the unstable nature of the configuration: a partial buildup of the flux rope with rising free energy is followed by destruction of the rope, losing most of the free energy. Y1 - 2010 UR - http://www.aanda.org/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201014416 SN - 0004-6361 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Cheng, Xin A1 - Zhang, Jie A1 - Kliem, Bernhard A1 - Török, Tibor A1 - Xing, Chen A1 - Zhou, Zhenjun A1 - Inhester, Bernd A1 - Ding, Mingde T1 - Initiation and early kinematic evolution of solar eruptions JF - The Astrophysical Journal N2 - We investigate the initiation and early evolution of 12 solar eruptions, including six active-region hot channel and six quiescent filament eruptions, which were well observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory, as well as by the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory for the latter. The sample includes one failed eruption and 11 coronal mass ejections, with velocities ranging from 493 to 2140 km s(-1). A detailed analysis of the eruption kinematics yields the following main results. (1) The early evolution of all events consists of a slow-rise phase followed by a main-acceleration phase, the height-time profiles of which differ markedly and can be best fit, respectively, by a linear and an exponential function. This indicates that different physical processes dominate in these phases, which is at variance with models that involve a single process. (2) The kinematic evolution of the eruptions tends to be synchronized with the flare light curve in both phases. The synchronization is often but not always close. A delayed onset of the impulsive flare phase is found in the majority of the filament eruptions (five out of six). This delay and its trend to be larger for slower eruptions favor ideal MHD instability models. (3) The average decay index at the onset heights of the main acceleration is close to the threshold of the torus instability for both groups of events (although, it is based on a tentative coronal field model for the hot channels), suggesting that this instability initiates and possibly drives the main acceleration. KW - solar coronal mass ejections KW - stellar coronal mass ejections KW - solar storm Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab886a SN - 1055-6796 SN - 1476-3540 VL - 894 IS - 2 SP - 1 EP - 20 PB - Cambridge Scientific Publishers CY - Cambridge ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kliem, Bernhard A1 - Török, Tibor A1 - Thompson, William T. T1 - A parametric study of erupting flux rope rotation modeling the "Cartwheel CME" on 9 April 2008 JF - Solar physics : a journal for solar and solar-stellar research and the study of solar terrestrial physics N2 - The rotation of erupting filaments in the solar corona is addressed through a parametric simulation study of unstable, rotating flux ropes in bipolar force-free initial equilibrium. The Lorentz force due to the external shear-field component and the relaxation of tension in the twisted field are the major contributors to the rotation in this model, while reconnection with the ambient field is of minor importance, due to the field's simple structure. In the low-beta corona, the rotation is not guided by the changing orientation of the vertical field component's polarity inversion line with height. The model yields strong initial rotations which saturate in the corona and differ qualitatively from the profile of rotation vs. height obtained in a recent simulation of an eruption without preexisting flux rope. Both major mechanisms writhe the flux rope axis, converting part of the initial twist helicity, and produce rotation profiles which, to a large part, are very similar within a range of shear-twist combinations. A difference lies in the tendency of twist-driven rotation to saturate at lower heights than shear-driven rotation. For parameters characteristic of the source regions of erupting filaments and coronal mass ejections, the shear field is found to be the dominant origin of rotations in the corona and to be required if the rotation reaches angles of order 90 degrees and higher; it dominates even if the twist exceeds the threshold of the helical kink instability. The contributions by shear and twist to the total rotation can be disentangled in the analysis of observations if the rotation and rise profiles are simultaneously compared with model calculations. The resulting twist estimate allows one to judge whether the helical kink instability occurred. This is demonstrated for the erupting prominence in the "Cartwheel CME" on 9 April 2008, which has shown a rotation of a parts per thousand aEuro parts per thousand 115(a similar to) up to a height of 1.5 R (aS (TM)) above the photosphere. Out of a range of initial equilibria which include strongly kink-unstable (twist I broken vertical bar=5 pi), weakly kink-unstable (I broken vertical bar=3.5 pi), and kink-stable (I broken vertical bar=2.5 pi) configurations, only the evolution of the weakly kink-unstable flux rope matches the observations in their entirety. KW - Corona, active KW - Prominences, dynamics KW - Coronal mass ejections, initiation and propagation KW - Magnetic fields, corona KW - Magnetohydrodynamics Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-012-9990-z SN - 0038-0938 VL - 281 IS - 1 SP - 137 EP - 166 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hassanin, Alshaimaa A1 - Kliem, Bernhard A1 - Seehafer, Norbert A1 - Török, Tibor T1 - A model of homologous confined and ejective eruptions involving kink instability and flux cancellation JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - In this study, we model a sequence of a confined and a full eruption, employing the relaxed end state of the confined eruption of a kink-unstable flux rope as the initial condition for the ejective one. The full eruption, a model of a coronal mass ejection, develops as a result of converging motions imposed at the photospheric boundary, which drive flux cancellation. In this process, parts of the positive and negative external flux converge toward the polarity inversion line, reconnect, and cancel each other. Flux of the same amount as the canceled flux transfers to a flux rope, increasing the free magnetic energy of the coronal field. With sustained flux cancellation and the associated progressive weakening of the magnetic tension of the overlying flux, we find that a flux reduction of approximate to 11% initiates the torus instability of the flux rope, which leads to a full eruption. These results demonstrate that a homologous full eruption, following a confined one, can be driven by flux cancellation. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac64a9 SN - 2041-8205 SN - 2041-8213 VL - 929 IS - 2 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER -