Photospheric Lorentz force changes in eruptive and confined solar flares

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Main Authors: Maity, Samriddhi Sankar, Sarkar, Ranadeep, Chatterjee, Piyali, Srivastava, Nandita
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Maity, Samriddhi Sankar
Sarkar, Ranadeep
Chatterjee, Piyali
Srivastava, Nandita
author_facet Maity, Samriddhi Sankar
Sarkar, Ranadeep
Chatterjee, Piyali
Srivastava, Nandita
contents Solar flares are known to leave imprints on the magnetic field at the photosphere, often manifested as an abrupt and permanent change in the downward-directed Lorentz force in localized areas inside the active region. Our study aims to differentiate eruptive and confined solar flares based on the vertical Lorentz force variations. We select 26 eruptive and 11 confined major solar flares (stronger than the GOES M5 class) observed during 2011-2017. We analyze these flaring regions using SHARP vector-magnetograms obtained from the NASA's Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). We also compare data corresponding to 2 synthetic flares from a $δ$--sunspot simulation reported in Chatterjee et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 101101 (2016)]. We estimate the change in the horizontal magnetic field and the total Lorentz force integrated over an area around the polarity inversion line (PIL) that encompasses the location of the flare. Our results indicate a rapid increase of the horizontal magnetic field along the flaring PIL, accompanied by a significant change in the downward-directed Lorentz force in the same vicinity. Notably, we find that all the confined events under study exhibit a total change in Lorentz force of < $1.8 \times 10^{22}$ dyne. This threshold plays an important factor in effectively distinguishing eruptive and confined flares. Further, our analysis suggests that the change in total Lorentz force also depends on the reconnection height in the solar corona during the associated flare onset. The results provide significant implications for understanding the flare-related upward impulse transmission for the associated coronal mass ejection.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_06787
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Photospheric Lorentz force changes in eruptive and confined solar flares
Maity, Samriddhi Sankar
Sarkar, Ranadeep
Chatterjee, Piyali
Srivastava, Nandita
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Solar flares are known to leave imprints on the magnetic field at the photosphere, often manifested as an abrupt and permanent change in the downward-directed Lorentz force in localized areas inside the active region. Our study aims to differentiate eruptive and confined solar flares based on the vertical Lorentz force variations. We select 26 eruptive and 11 confined major solar flares (stronger than the GOES M5 class) observed during 2011-2017. We analyze these flaring regions using SHARP vector-magnetograms obtained from the NASA's Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). We also compare data corresponding to 2 synthetic flares from a $δ$--sunspot simulation reported in Chatterjee et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 101101 (2016)]. We estimate the change in the horizontal magnetic field and the total Lorentz force integrated over an area around the polarity inversion line (PIL) that encompasses the location of the flare. Our results indicate a rapid increase of the horizontal magnetic field along the flaring PIL, accompanied by a significant change in the downward-directed Lorentz force in the same vicinity. Notably, we find that all the confined events under study exhibit a total change in Lorentz force of < $1.8 \times 10^{22}$ dyne. This threshold plays an important factor in effectively distinguishing eruptive and confined flares. Further, our analysis suggests that the change in total Lorentz force also depends on the reconnection height in the solar corona during the associated flare onset. The results provide significant implications for understanding the flare-related upward impulse transmission for the associated coronal mass ejection.
title Photospheric Lorentz force changes in eruptive and confined solar flares
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.06787