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Wataru Takahashi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Truong Minh Tuyen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Klaus Galsgaard - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • On the nature of reconnection at a solar coronal Null Point above a separatrix dome
    The Astrophysical Journal, 2013
    Co-Authors: David Pontin, E. R. Priest, Klaus Galsgaard
    Abstract:

    Three-dimensional magnetic Null Points are ubiquitous in the solar corona and in any generic mixed-polarity magnetic field. We consider magnetic reconnection at an isolated coronal Null Point whose fan field lines form a dome structure. Using analytical and computational models, we demonstrate several features of spine-fan reconnection at such a Null, including the fact that substantial magnetic flux transfer from one region of field line connectivity to another can occur. The flux transfer occurs across the current sheet that forms around the Null Point during spine-fan reconnection, and there is no separator present. Also, flipping of magnetic field lines takes place in a manner similar to that observed in the quasi-separatrix layer or slip-running reconnection.

  • 3D Solar Null Point Reconnection MHD Simulations
    Solar Physics, 2012
    Co-Authors: G. Baumann, Klaus Galsgaard, Åke Nordlund
    Abstract:

    Numerical MHD simulations of 3D reconnection events in the solar corona have improved enormously over the last few years, not only in resolution, but also in their complexity, enabling more and more realistic modeling. Various ways to obtain the initial magnetic field, different forms of solar atmospheric models as well as diverse driving speeds and patterns have been employed. This study considers differences between simulations with stratified and non-stratified solar atmospheres, addresses the influence of the driving speed on the plasma flow and energetics, and provides quantitative formulas for mapping electric fields and dissipation levels obtained in numerical simulations to the corresponding solar quantities. The simulations start out from a potential magnetic field containing a Null-Point, obtained from a Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) magnetogram magnetogram extrapolation approximately 8 hours before a C-class flare was observed. The magnetic field is stressed with a boundary motion pattern similar to – although simpler than – horizontal motions observed by SOHO during the period preceding the flare. The general behavior is nearly independent of the driving speed, and is also very similar in stratified and non-stratified models, provided only that the boundary motions are slow enough. The boundary motions cause a build-up of current sheets, mainly in the fan-plane of the magnetic Null-Point, but do not result in a flare-like energy release. The additional free energy required for the flare could have been partly present in non-potential form at the initial state, with subsequent additions from magnetic flux emergence or from components of the boundary motion that were not represented by the idealized driving pattern.

  • Steady state reconnection at a single 3D magnetic Null Point
    Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2011
    Co-Authors: Klaus Galsgaard, David Pontin
    Abstract:

    Aims. We systematically stress a rotationally symmetric 3D magnetic Null Point by advecting the opposite footPoints of the spine axis in opposite directions. This stress eventually concentrates in the vicinity of the Null Point, thereby forming a local current sheet through which magnetic reconnection takes place. The aim is to look for a steady state evolution of the current sheet dynamics, which may provide scaling relations for various characteristic parameters of the system. Methods. The evolution is followed by solving numerically the non-ideal MHD equations in a Cartesian domain. The Null Point is embedded in an initially constant density and temperature plasma. Results. It is shown that a quasi-steady reconnection process can be set up at a 3D Null by continuous shear driving. It appears that a true steady state is unlikely to be realised because the current layer tends to grow until it is restricted by the geometry of the computational domain and the imposed driving profile. However, ratios between characteristic quantities clearly settle after some time to stable values, so that the evolution is quasi-steady. The experiments show a number of scaling relations, but they do not provide a clear consensus for extending to lower magnetic resistivity or faster driving velocities. More investigations are needed to fully clarify the properties of current sheets at magnetic Null Points.

  • Is Null-Point Reconnection Important for Solar Flux Emergence?
    Solar Physics, 2009
    Co-Authors: R. C. Maclean, Clare E. Parnell, Klaus Galsgaard
    Abstract:

    The role of Null-Point reconnection in a three-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model of solar emerging flux is investigated. The model consists of a twisted magnetic flux tube rising through a stratified convection zone and atmosphere to interact and reconnect with a horizontal overlying magnetic field in the atmosphere. Null Points appear as the reconnection begins and persist throughout the rest of the emergence, where they can be found mostly in the model photosphere and transition region, forming two loose clusters on either side of the emerging flux tube. Up to 26 Nulls are present at any one time, and tracking in time shows that there is a total of 305 overall, despite the initial simplicity of the magnetic field configuration. We find evidence for the reality of the Nulls in terms of their methods of creation and destruction, their balance of signs, their long lifetimes, and their geometrical stability. We then show that due to the low parallel electric fields associated with the Nulls, Null-Point reconnection is not the main type of magnetic reconnection involved in the interaction of the newly emerged flux with the overlying field. However, the large number of Nulls implies that the topological structure of the magnetic field must be very complex and the importance of reconnection along separators or separatrix surfaces for flux emergence cannot be ruled out.

  • Current amplification and magnetic reconnection at a three-dimensional Null Point: Physical characteristics: MAGNETIC RECONNECTION AT A 3D Null Point
    Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 2007
    Co-Authors: David Pontin, Klaus Galsgaard
    Abstract:

    [1] The behavior of magnetic perturbations of an initially potential three-dimensional equilibrium magnetic Null Point is investigated. The basic components which constitute a typical disturbance are taken to be rotations and shears, in line with previous work. The spine and fan of the Null Point (the field lines which asymptotically approach or recede from the Null) are subjected to such rotational and shear perturbations, using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations. It is found that rotations of the fan plane and about the spine lead to current sheets which are spatially diffuse in at least one direction and form in the locations of the spine and fan. However, shearing perturbations lead to 3-D-localized current sheets focused at the Null Point itself. In addition, rotations are associated with a growth of current parallel to the spine, driving rotational flows and a type of rotational reconnection. Shears, on the other hand, cause a current through the Null which is parallel to the fan plane and are associated with stagnation-type flows and field line reconnection across both the spine and fan. The importance of the parallel electric field, and its meaning as a reconnection rate, are discussed.

Suthep Suantai - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

David Pontin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Non-linear tearing of 3D Null Point current sheets
    Physics of Plasmas, 2014
    Co-Authors: Peter F. Wyper, David Pontin
    Abstract:

    The manner in which the rate of magnetic reconnection scales with the Lundquist number in realistic three-dimensional (3D) geometries is still an unsolved problem. It has been demonstrated that in 2D rapid non-linear tearing allows the reconnection rate to become almost independent of the Lundquist number (the “plasmoid instability”). Here, we present the first study of an analogous instability in a fully 3D geometry, defined by a magnetic Null Point. The 3D Null current layer is found to be susceptible to an analogous instability but is marginally more stable than an equivalent 2D Sweet-Parker-like layer. Tearing of the sheet creates a thin boundary layer around the separatrix surface, contained within a flux envelope with a hyperbolic structure that mimics a spine-fan topology. Efficient mixing of flux between the two topological domains occurs as the flux rope structures created during the tearing process evolve within this envelope. This leads to a substantial increase in the rate of reconnection between the two domains.

  • On the nature of reconnection at a solar coronal Null Point above a separatrix dome
    The Astrophysical Journal, 2013
    Co-Authors: David Pontin, E. R. Priest, Klaus Galsgaard
    Abstract:

    Three-dimensional magnetic Null Points are ubiquitous in the solar corona and in any generic mixed-polarity magnetic field. We consider magnetic reconnection at an isolated coronal Null Point whose fan field lines form a dome structure. Using analytical and computational models, we demonstrate several features of spine-fan reconnection at such a Null, including the fact that substantial magnetic flux transfer from one region of field line connectivity to another can occur. The flux transfer occurs across the current sheet that forms around the Null Point during spine-fan reconnection, and there is no separator present. Also, flipping of magnetic field lines takes place in a manner similar to that observed in the quasi-separatrix layer or slip-running reconnection.

  • Steady state reconnection at a single 3D magnetic Null Point
    Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2011
    Co-Authors: Klaus Galsgaard, David Pontin
    Abstract:

    Aims. We systematically stress a rotationally symmetric 3D magnetic Null Point by advecting the opposite footPoints of the spine axis in opposite directions. This stress eventually concentrates in the vicinity of the Null Point, thereby forming a local current sheet through which magnetic reconnection takes place. The aim is to look for a steady state evolution of the current sheet dynamics, which may provide scaling relations for various characteristic parameters of the system. Methods. The evolution is followed by solving numerically the non-ideal MHD equations in a Cartesian domain. The Null Point is embedded in an initially constant density and temperature plasma. Results. It is shown that a quasi-steady reconnection process can be set up at a 3D Null by continuous shear driving. It appears that a true steady state is unlikely to be realised because the current layer tends to grow until it is restricted by the geometry of the computational domain and the imposed driving profile. However, ratios between characteristic quantities clearly settle after some time to stable values, so that the evolution is quasi-steady. The experiments show a number of scaling relations, but they do not provide a clear consensus for extending to lower magnetic resistivity or faster driving velocities. More investigations are needed to fully clarify the properties of current sheets at magnetic Null Points.

  • Current amplification and magnetic reconnection at a three-dimensional Null Point: Physical characteristics: MAGNETIC RECONNECTION AT A 3D Null Point
    Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 2007
    Co-Authors: David Pontin, Klaus Galsgaard
    Abstract:

    [1] The behavior of magnetic perturbations of an initially potential three-dimensional equilibrium magnetic Null Point is investigated. The basic components which constitute a typical disturbance are taken to be rotations and shears, in line with previous work. The spine and fan of the Null Point (the field lines which asymptotically approach or recede from the Null) are subjected to such rotational and shear perturbations, using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations. It is found that rotations of the fan plane and about the spine lead to current sheets which are spatially diffuse in at least one direction and form in the locations of the spine and fan. However, shearing perturbations lead to 3-D-localized current sheets focused at the Null Point itself. In addition, rotations are associated with a growth of current parallel to the spine, driving rotational flows and a type of rotational reconnection. Shears, on the other hand, cause a current through the Null which is parallel to the fan plane and are associated with stagnation-type flows and field line reconnection across both the spine and fan. The importance of the parallel electric field, and its meaning as a reconnection rate, are discussed.

  • current amplification and magnetic reconnection at a three dimensional Null Point physical characteristics
    Journal of Geophysical Research, 2007
    Co-Authors: David Pontin, Klaus Galsgaard
    Abstract:

    [1] The behavior of magnetic perturbations of an initially potential three-dimensional equilibrium magnetic Null Point is investigated. The basic components which constitute a typical disturbance are taken to be rotations and shears, in line with previous work. The spine and fan of the Null Point (the field lines which asymptotically approach or recede from the Null) are subjected to such rotational and shear perturbations, using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations. It is found that rotations of the fan plane and about the spine lead to current sheets which are spatially diffuse in at least one direction and form in the locations of the spine and fan. However, shearing perturbations lead to 3-D-localized current sheets focused at the Null Point itself. In addition, rotations are associated with a growth of current parallel to the spine, driving rotational flows and a type of rotational reconnection. Shears, on the other hand, cause a current through the Null which is parallel to the fan plane and are associated with stagnation-type flows and field line reconnection across both the spine and fan. The importance of the parallel electric field, and its meaning as a reconnection rate, are discussed.