A Model for the Emergence of a Twisted Magnetic Flux Tube

Longcope, D. W. and B. T. Welsch, A Model for the Emergence of a Twisted Magnetic Flux Tube, ApJ, 545, 1089-1100 (2000) (ADS)

The cartoon

(click on the image for a larger version)

This is another nice cartoon that isn't one of your comprehensive end-to-end flare cartoons, such as one of the well-developed but perhaps boring CSHKP examples. The problem tackled here is the electrodynamics of flux emergence. How does a subphotospheric fibril field map onto a coronal space-filling field with net currents, as needed for flare energy storage? This is a complicated subject and there are debates (e.g. Melrose vs. Parker) on the nature of the physics involved. Meanwhile we can all enjoy the cartoon.

Date: 2006 December 30

Update: 2019 February 16