Influence of Cross-sectional Expansion on Coronal Emissions from a Radiatively Cooling Solar Flare Loop

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Dai, Yu, Li, Shihan, Tang, Wenlong, Li, Zhen, Ding, Mingde
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Dai, Yu
Li, Shihan
Tang, Wenlong
Li, Zhen
Ding, Mingde
author_facet Dai, Yu
Li, Shihan
Tang, Wenlong
Li, Zhen
Ding, Mingde
contents Loop-aligned hydrodynamic modelings help better understand the thermodynamic evolution of flaring plasma confined in solar flare loops. Conventional loop modelings typically assume a uniform loop cross section. With a variation of the cross section taken into account, in this work we carry out both analytical and numerical modelings of the radiative cooling in a solar flare loop. It is found that a cross-sectional expansion with height can efficiently suppress the draining of loop material from the corona while not significantly affecting the decrease of loop temperature. Reflected to the loop energetics, the coronal part of the loop cools more dominantly by radiation, and more importantly, the loop radiative outputs are shifted toward lower temperatures. These findings pose important physical implications for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) late-phase emissions discovered in some solar flares. The late-phase loops in these flares are believed to bear a more notable cross-sectional expansion owing to their longer lengths. Compared with the main-phase loops, the late-phase loops would emit more effectively at middle temperatures, which could, to a certain degree, mitigate the severe heating requirement for the production of a prominent warm coronal late-phase peak. In addition, the cross-sectional expansion also affects the shape of the emission lights curves, causing a sharper decay after the emission peak. Such an emission pattern has been validated with the observations of an EUV late-phase flare, and could serve as a potential diagnostic tool to judge the degree of loop cross-sectional expansion in an extended flare dataset.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_19688
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Influence of Cross-sectional Expansion on Coronal Emissions from a Radiatively Cooling Solar Flare Loop
Dai, Yu
Li, Shihan
Tang, Wenlong
Li, Zhen
Ding, Mingde
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Loop-aligned hydrodynamic modelings help better understand the thermodynamic evolution of flaring plasma confined in solar flare loops. Conventional loop modelings typically assume a uniform loop cross section. With a variation of the cross section taken into account, in this work we carry out both analytical and numerical modelings of the radiative cooling in a solar flare loop. It is found that a cross-sectional expansion with height can efficiently suppress the draining of loop material from the corona while not significantly affecting the decrease of loop temperature. Reflected to the loop energetics, the coronal part of the loop cools more dominantly by radiation, and more importantly, the loop radiative outputs are shifted toward lower temperatures. These findings pose important physical implications for extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) late-phase emissions discovered in some solar flares. The late-phase loops in these flares are believed to bear a more notable cross-sectional expansion owing to their longer lengths. Compared with the main-phase loops, the late-phase loops would emit more effectively at middle temperatures, which could, to a certain degree, mitigate the severe heating requirement for the production of a prominent warm coronal late-phase peak. In addition, the cross-sectional expansion also affects the shape of the emission lights curves, causing a sharper decay after the emission peak. Such an emission pattern has been validated with the observations of an EUV late-phase flare, and could serve as a potential diagnostic tool to judge the degree of loop cross-sectional expansion in an extended flare dataset.
title Influence of Cross-sectional Expansion on Coronal Emissions from a Radiatively Cooling Solar Flare Loop
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.19688