Energy Release and Transfer in Solar Flares: Simulations of Three-Dimensional Reconnection

Birn, J., L. Fletcher, M. Hesse, and T. Neukirch, Energy Release and Transfer in Solar Flares: Simulations of Three-Dimensional Reconnection, ApJ, 695, 1151-1162 (2009) (ADS)

The cartoon

(click on the image for a larger version)

A basic flare cartoon, attributed to T. Neukirch for inspiration but it could have come from almost anywhere in the CSHKP sandbox. Here it lays the framework for a pioneering study of energy partition in the reconnection process. We know that particle acceleration plays a fundamental role in flares and in CMEs, but the state of the art theoretically can be judged from the presence of four question marks in the cartoon; any of them could be a site of acceleration, and so any of them could be coupled strongly to the basic energetics question of plasma stability. In particular note the question marks where this might not be so clear; the termination shock remains a bit obscure in this regard. But this cartoon can't be taken as seriously as the paper itself, which is in fully realistic 3D.

      One small quibble might simply be the omission of wave transport as such.

Date: 2010 July 19

Update: 2019 November 19