Coronal mass ejections, magnetic flux ropes, and solar magnetism
Low, B. C., Coronal mass ejections, magnetic flux ropes, and solar magnetism, Journal of Geophysical Research, 106, 25141-25164 (2001) (ADS)
(click on the image for a larger version)
A charming cartoon from one of the great masters of solar MHD.
A twisting, writhing magnetic flux tube is heaving its way up through
the photosphere, loaded with
helicity that it must get rid of.
How does this work? Could reconnection play a role?
Here the helical writhe in panel (b) reflects this.
As fundamental as Low's concept of helicity shedding via CME eruption must be,
this cartoon sure does not look physically realistic.
It is much more likely that the coronal current systems do not have a fibril
character, as shown, but rather a space-filling network of
non-neutralized currents.
A charming cartoon from one of the great masters of solar MHD. A twisting, writhing magnetic flux tube is heaving its way up through the photosphere, loaded with helicity that it must get rid of. How does this work? Could reconnection play a role? Here the helical writhe in panel (b) reflects this.
As fundamental as Low's concept of helicity shedding via CME eruption must be, this cartoon sure does not look physically realistic. It is much more likely that the coronal current systems do not have a fibril character, as shown, but rather a space-filling network of non-neutralized currents.