Abstract
Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are the most energetic events in the solar system and can make near-Earth space a hazardous place. However, there is still no consensus as to what physical mechanisms are responsible for these solar eruptions. Here we demonstrate a fundamental connection between the emergence of magnetic flux into the solar atmosphere and the formation of solar eruptions. We present a model of the dynamics of the solar atmosphere and inner solar wind region using a realistic representation of the electric field at the photosphere, calculated from flux-emergence computer simulations, as the boundary conditions. From this, we show how magnetic flux and helicity injection leads to the reorganization of the solar corona. We show evidence for the in situ formation of a CME plasmoid, which is independent of the emerging flux tube, and we conclusively connect this process to the formation of a hot X-ray structure.
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Acknowledgements
This research work was supported by CAS grant 2011T2J01 at the YNAO, as well as NSF grant ATM-0639335 (CAREER) at the IfA. We are grateful to P. Biermann, M. Mierla and G. Dima for the useful comments on the manuscript. K.G. acknowledges the access to the Danish Center for Scientific Computing (DCSC) at which the FEM calculations were conducted. N.L. was supported by NSF grant AGS-1239704.
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I.I.R. and K.G. planned and performed the numerical simulations using the GSCM and FEM, respectively. I.I.R. and K.G. developed the coupled GSCM–FEM. I.I.R., C.D., N.L. and I.V.S. jointly developed the GSCM. I.V.S. participated in the development of the SWMF. The analysis of the simulation results and their interpretation was done by I.I.R., K.G., C.D., N.L., J.L. and E.M. Figures 1 and 3 were prepared by I.I.R., K.G. and E.M. Figure 2 was generated by J.L., I.I.R. and K.G. Figure 4 was prepared by I.I.R. and C.D. Supplementary Fig. S1 was prepared by I.I.R. The manuscript was written by I.I.R. with feedback from all authors, including significant contributions from K.G., C.D. and N.L.
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Roussev, I., Galsgaard, K., Downs, C. et al. Explaining fast ejections of plasma and exotic X-ray emission from the solar corona. Nature Phys 8, 845–849 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2427
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2427
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