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DOE OSTI2011

TEMPERATURE AND DENSITY ESTIMATES OF EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET FLARE RIBBONS DERIVED FROM TRACE DIFFRACTION PATTERNS

We report on Transition Region And Coronal Explorer 171 A observations of the GOES X20 class flare on 2001 April 2 that shows EUV flare ribbons with intense diffraction patterns. Between the 11th to 14th order, the diffraction patterns of the compact flare ribbon are dispersed into two sources. The two sources are identified as emission from the Fe IX line at 171.1 A and the combined emission from Fe X lines at 174.5, 175.3, and 177.2 A. The prominent emission of the Fe IX line indicates that the EUV-emitting ribbon has a strong temperature component near the lower end of the 171 A temperature response ({approx}0.6-1.5 MK). Fitting the observation with an isothermal model, the derived temperature is around 0.65 MK. However, the low sensitivity of the 171 A filter to high-temperature plasma does not provide estimates of the emission measure for temperatures above {approx}1.5 MK. Using the derived temperature of 0.65 MK, the observed 171 A flux gives a density of the EUV ribbon of 3 x 10{sup 11} cm{sup -3}. This density is much lower than the density of the hard X-ray producing region ({approx}10{sup 13} to 10{sup 14} cm{sup -3}) suggesting that the EUV sources, though closely related spatially, lie at higher altitudes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

THE BEHAVIOR OF THE 17 GHz SOLAR RADIUS AND LIMB BRIGHTENING IN THE SPOTLESS MINIMUM XXIII/XXIV

The current solar minimum has surprised the entire solar community because the spotless period is presently almost 2-3 years longer than the usual minima. To better understand this, we studied the variation of the solar radius and the polar limb brightening at 17 GHz, comparing the results from the minimum at the end of cycle XXIII with those of the previous one. Daily maps obtained by the Nobeyama Radioheliograph (NoRH) from 1992 through 2010 were analyzed. Whereas the variation of the solar radius at radio frequencies indicates the heating of the solar atmosphere due to solar activity, the limb brightening intensity depends on the organization of the polar magnetic field of the Sun, including the global dipole and the features formed around it. These features are more prominent during minima periods. As a common result, researchers have observed a decrease in both radius and limb brightness intensity at 17 GHz during the present minimum when compared with the previous one. The mean solar radius is 0.''9 {+-} 0.''6 smaller and the limb brightening reduced its intensity by around 20%. Both decrements are interpreted in terms of the weaker solar chromospheric activity of the present cycle. Measurement of the radius and limb brightening at 17 GHz can be used as an alternative solar activity index and should be included in the set of parameters used to predict future cycles.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

SCALE DEPENDENCE OF MAGNETIC HELICITY IN THE SOLAR WIND

We determine the magnetic helicity, along with the magnetic energy, at high latitudes using data from the Ulysses mission. The data set spans the time period from 1993 to 1996. The basic assumption of the analysis is that the solar wind is homogeneous. Because the solar wind speed is high, we follow the approach first pioneered by Matthaeus et al. by which, under the assumption of spatial homogeneity, one can use Fourier transforms of the magnetic field time series to construct one-dimensional spectra of the magnetic energy and magnetic helicity under the assumption that the Taylor frozen-in-flow hypothesis is valid. That is a well-satisfied assumption for the data used in this study. The magnetic helicity derives from the skew-symmetric terms of the three-dimensional magnetic correlation tensor, while the symmetric terms of the tensor are used to determine the magnetic energy spectrum. Our results show a sign change of magnetic helicity at wavenumber k {approx} 2 AU{sup -1} (or frequency {nu} {approx} 2 {mu}Hz) at distances below 2.8 AU and at k {approx} 30 AU{sup -1} (or {nu} {approx} 25 {mu}Hz) at larger distances. At small scales the magnetic helicity is positive at northern heliographic latitudes and negative at southern latitudes. The positive magnetic helicity at small scales is argued to be the result of turbulent diffusion reversing the sign relative to what is seen at small scales at the solar surface. Furthermore, the magnetic helicity declines toward solar minimum in 1996. The magnetic helicity flux integrated separately over one hemisphere amounts to about 10{sup 45} Mx{sup 2} cycle{sup -1} at large scales and to a three times lower value at smaller scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

TIME-DEPENDENT PERPENDICULAR TRANSPORT OF FAST CHARGED PARTICLES IN A TURBULENT MAGNETIC FIELD

We present an analytic derivation of the temporal dependence of the perpendicular transport coefficient of charged particles in magnetostatic turbulence, for times smaller than the time needed for charged particles to travel the turbulence correlation length. This time window is left unexplored in most transport models. In our analysis all magnetic scales are taken to be much larger than the particle gyroradius, so that perpendicular transport is assumed to be dominated by the guiding center motion. Particle drift from the local magnetic field lines (MFLs) and magnetic field line random walk are evaluated separately for slab and three-dimensional (3D) isotropic turbulence. Contributions of wavelength scales shorter and longer than the turbulence coherence length are compared. In contrast to the slab case, particles in 3D isotropic turbulence unexpectedly diffuse from local MFLs; this result questions the common assumption that particle magnetization is independent of turbulence geometry. Extensions of this model will allow for a study of solar wind anisotropies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

SIMULATING THE EFFECTS OF INITIAL PITCH-ANGLE DISTRIBUTIONS ON SOLAR FLARES

In this work, we model both the thermal and non-thermal components of solar flares. The model we use, HYLOOP, combines a hydrodynamic equation solver with a non-thermal particle tracking code to simulate the thermal and non-thermal dynamics and emission of solar flares. In order to test the effects of pitch-angle distribution on flare dynamics and emission, a series of flares is simulated with non-thermal electron beams injected at the loop apex. The pitch-angle distribution of each beam is described by a single parameter and allowed to vary from flare to flare. We use the results of these simulations to generate synthetic hard and soft X-ray emissions (HXR and SXR). The light curves of the flares in Hinode's X-ray Telescope passbands show a distinct signal that is highly dependent on pitch-angle distribution. The simulated HXR emission in the 3-6 keV bandpass shows the formation and evolution of emission sources that correspond well to the observations of pre-impulsive flares. This ability to test theoretical models of thermal and non-thermal flare dynamics directly with observations allows for the investigation of a wide range of physical processes governing the evolution of solar flares. We find that the initial pitch-angle distribution of non-thermal particle populations has a profound effect on loop top HXR and SXR emission and that apparent motion of HXR is a natural consequence of non-thermal particle evolution in a magnetic trap.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

THIRD MOMENTS AND THE ROLE OF ANISOTROPY FROM VELOCITY SHEAR IN THE SOLAR WIND

We have extended the recent analyses of magnetohydrodynamic third moments as they relate to the turbulent energy cascade in the solar wind to consider the effects of large-scale shear flows. Moments from a large set of Advanced Composition Explorer data have been taken, and chosen data intervals are characterized by the rate of change in the solar wind speed. Mean dissipation rates are obtained in accordance with the predictions of homogeneous shear-driven turbulence. Agreement with predictions is best made for rarefaction intervals where the solar wind speed is decreasing with time. For decreasing speed intervals, we find that the dissipation rates increase with increasing shear magnitude and that the shear-induced fluctuation anisotropy is consistent with a relatively small amount.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

ELLERMAN BOMBS AT HIGH RESOLUTION. I. MORPHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR PHOTOSPHERIC RECONNECTION

High-resolution imaging-spectroscopy movies of solar active region NOAA 10998 obtained with the Crisp Imaging Spectropolarimeter at the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope show very bright, rapidly flickering, flame-like features that appear intermittently in the wings of the Balmer H{alpha} line in a region with moat flows and likely some flux emergence. They show up at regular H{alpha} blue-wing bright points that outline the magnetic network, but flare upward with much larger brightness and distinct 'jet' morphology seen from aside in the limbward view of these movies. We classify these features as Ellerman bombs and present a morphological study of their appearance at the unprecedented spatial, temporal, and spectral resolution of these observations. The bombs appear along the magnetic network with footpoint extents up to 900 km. They show apparent travel away from the spot along the pre-existing network at speeds of about 1 km s{sup -1}. The bombs flare repetitively with much rapid variation at timescales of seconds only, in the form of upward jet-shaped brightness features. These reach heights of 600-1200 km and tend to show blueshifts; some show bi-directional Doppler signature and some seem accompanied with an H{alpha} surge. They are not seen in the core of H{alpha} due to shielding by overlying chromospheric fibrils. The network where they originate has normal properties. The morphology of these jets strongly supports deep-seated photospheric reconnection of emergent or moat-driven magnetic flux with pre-existing strong vertical network fields as the mechanism underlying the Ellerman bomb phenomenon.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2011

ESTIMATES OF DENSITIES AND FILLING FACTORS FROM A COOLING TIME ANALYSIS OF SOLAR MICROFLARES OBSERVED WITH RHESSI

We use more than 4500 microflares from the RHESSI microflare data set to estimate electron densities and volumetric filling factors of microflare loops using a cooling time analysis. We show that if the filling factor is assumed to be unity, the calculated conductive cooling times are much shorter than the observed flare decay times, which in turn are much shorter than the calculated radiative cooling times. This is likely unphysical, but the contradiction can be resolved by assuming that the radiative and conductive cooling times are comparable, which is valid when the flare loop temperature is a maximum and when external heating can be ignored. We find that resultant radiative and conductive cooling times are comparable to observed decay times, which has been used as an assumption in some previous studies. The inferred electron densities have a mean value of 10{sup 11.6} cm{sup -3} and filling factors have a mean of 10{sup -3.7}. The filling factors are lower and densities are higher than previous estimates for large flares, but are similar to those found for two microflares by Moore et al.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

SPONTANEOUS CURRENT-LAYER FRAGMENTATION AND CASCADING RECONNECTION IN SOLAR FLARES. I. MODEL AND ANALYSIS

Magnetic reconnection is commonly considered to be a mechanism of solar (eruptive) flares. A deeper study of this scenario reveals, however, a number of open issues. Among them is the fundamental question of how the magnetic energy is transferred from large, accumulation scales to plasma scales where its actual dissipation takes place. In order to investigate this transfer over a broad range of scales, we address this question by means of a high-resolution MHD simulation. The simulation results indicate that the magnetic-energy transfer to small scales is realized via a cascade of consecutively smaller and smaller flux ropes (plasmoids), analogous to the vortex-tube cascade in (incompressible) fluid dynamics. Both tearing and (driven) 'fragmenting coalescence' processes are equally important for the consecutive fragmentation of the magnetic field (and associated current density) into smaller elements. At the later stages, a dynamic balance between tearing and coalescence processes reveals a steady (power-law) scaling typical of cascading processes. It is shown that cascading reconnection also addresses other open issues in solar-flare research, such as the duality between the regular large-scale picture of (eruptive) flares and the observed signatures of fragmented (chaotic) energy release, as well as the huge number of accelerated particles. Indeed, spontaneous current-layer fragmentation and the formation of multiple channelized dissipative/acceleration regions embedded in the current layer appear to be intrinsic to the cascading process. The multiple small-scale current sheets may also facilitate the acceleration of a large number of particles. The structure, distribution, and dynamics of the embedded potential acceleration regions in a current layer fragmented by cascading reconnection are studied and discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

PREDICTION OF THE PROTON-TO-TOTAL TURBULENT HEATING IN THE SOLAR WIND

This paper employs a recent turbulent heating prescription to predict the ratio of proton-to-total heating due to the kinetic dissipation of Alfvenic turbulence as a function of heliocentric distance. Comparing to a recent empirical estimate for this turbulent heating ratio in the high-speed solar wind, the prediction shows good agreement with the empirical estimate for R {approx}> 0.8 AU, but predicts less ion heating than the empirical estimate at smaller heliocentric radii. At these smaller radii, the turbulent heating prescription, calculated in the gyrokinetic limit, fails because the turbulent cascade is predicted to reach the proton cyclotron frequency before Landau damping terminates the cascade. These findings suggest that the turbulent cascade can reach the proton cyclotron frequency at R {approx}< 0.8 AU, leading to a higher level of proton heating than predicted by the turbulent heating prescription in the gyrokinetic limit. At larger heliocentric radii, R {approx}> 0.8 AU, this turbulent heating prescription contains all of the necessary physical mechanisms needed to reproduce the empirically estimated proton-to-total heating ratio.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

TWIST AND CONNECTIVITY OF MAGNETIC FIELD LINES IN THE SOLAR ACTIVE REGION NOAA 10930

Twist and connectivity of magnetic field lines in the flare-productive active region NOAA 10930 are investigated in terms of the vector magnetograms observed by the Solar Optical Telescope on board the Hinode satellite and the nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) extrapolation. First, we show that the footpoints of magnetic field lines reconstructed by the NLFFF correspond well to the conjugate pair of highly sheared flare ribbons on the Ca II images, which were observed by Hinode as an X3.4 class flare on 2006 December 13. This demonstrates that the NLFFF extrapolation may be used to analyze the magnetic field connectivity. Second, we find that the twist of magnetic field lines anchored on the flare ribbons increased as the ribbons moved away from the magnetic polarity inversion line in the early phase of the flare. This suggests that magnetic reconnection might commence from a region located below the most strongly twisted field. Third, we reveal that the magnetic flux twisted more than a half turn and gradually increased during the last one day prior to the onset of the flare, and that it quickly decreased for two hours after the flare. This is consistent with the store-and-release scenario of magnetic helicity. However, within this active region, only a small fraction of the flux was twisted by more than one full turn and the field lines that reconnected first were twisted less than one turn. These results imply that the kink mode instability could hardly occur, at least before the onset of flare. Based on our results, we discuss the trigger process of solar flares.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

A SHORT-TIMESCALE CHANNEL OF DISSIPATION OF THE STRONG SOLAR WIND TURBULENCE

Hybrid numerical simulations of a turbulent cascade nearly perpendicular to the background magnetic field are carried out at the proton kinetic scales. It is shown that the cascade produces exponentially growing current sheets previously observed in fluid simulations. In the kinetic limit, the sheets are developing on a timescale as fast as the proton gyration. The rapid variations of the electric field associated with the sheets can demagnetize the protons and increase their thermal energy preferentially across the mean magnetic field. The relevance of this mechanism to the solar wind heating is discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

SHORT-WAVELENGTH ELECTROSTATIC FLUCTUATIONS IN THE SOLAR WIND

Hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell simulations have been used recently to investigate the dynamics of the solar-wind plasma in the tail at short wavelengths of the energy cascade. These simulations have shown that a significant level of electrostatic activity is detected at wavelengths smaller than the proton inertial scale in the longitudinal direction with respect to the ambient magnetic field. In this paper, we describe the results of a new series of hybrid Vlasov-Maxwell simulations that allow us to investigate in more detail the generation process of these electrostatic fluctuations in terms of the electron-to-proton temperature ratio T{sub e} /T{sub p} . This analysis gives evidence for the first time that even in the case of cold electrons, T{sub e} {approx_equal} T{sub p} (the appropriate condition for solar-wind plasmas), the resonant interaction of protons with large-scale left-hand polarized ion-cyclotron waves is responsible for the excitation of short-scale electrostatic fluctuations with an acoustic dispersion relation. Moreover, through our numerical results we propose a physical mechanism to explain the generation of longitudinal proton-beam distributions in typical conditions of the solar-wind environment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

COMPARISON OF SEISMIC SIGNATURES OF FLARES OBTAINED BY SOHO/MICHELSON DOPPLER IMAGER AND GONG INSTRUMENTS

The first observations of seismic responses to solar flares were carried out using time-distance (TD) and holography techniques applied to SOHO/Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) Dopplergrams obtained from space and unaffected by terrestrial atmospheric disturbances. However, the ground-based network GONG is potentially a very valuable source of sunquake observations, especially in cases where space observations are unavailable. In this paper, we present an updated technique for pre-processing of GONG observations for the application of subjacent vantage holography. Using this method and TD diagrams, we investigate several sunquakes observed in association with M- and X-class solar flares and compare the outcomes with those reported earlier using MDI data. In both GONG and MDI data sets, for the first time, we also detect the TD ridge associated with the 2001 September 9 flare. Our results show reassuringly positive identification of sunquakes from GONG data that can provide further information about the physics of seismic processes associated with solar flares.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

HIGH-RESOLUTION IMAGING OF SOLAR FLARE RIBBONS AND ITS IMPLICATION ON THE THICK-TARGET BEAM MODEL

We report on high-resolution optical and hard X-ray observations of solar flare ribbons seen during the GOES X6.5 class white-light flare of 2006 December 6. The data consist of imaging observations at 430 nm (the Fraunhofer G band) taken by the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope with the hard X-rays observed by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager. The two sets of data show closely similar ribbon structures, strongly suggesting that the flare emissions in white light and in hard X-rays have physically linked emission mechanisms. While the source structure along the ribbons is resolved at both wavelengths (length {approx} 30''), only the G-band observations resolve the width of the ribbon, with values between {approx}0.''5 and {approx}1.''8. The unresolved hard X-ray observations reveal an even narrower ribbon in hard X-rays (the main footpoint has a width perpendicular to the ribbon of <1.''1 compared to the G-band width of {approx}1.''8) suggesting that the hard X-ray emission comes from the sharp leading edge of the G-band ribbon. Applying the thick-target beam model, the derived energy deposition rate is >5 x 10{sup 12} erg s{sup -1} cm{sup -2} provided by an electron flux of 1 x 10{sup 20} electrons s{sup -1} cm{sup -2} above 18 keV. This requires that the beam density of electrons above 18 keV be at least 1 x 10{sup 10} cm{sup -3}. Even if field lines converge toward the chromospheric footpoints, the required beam in the corona has too high a density to be described as a dilute tail population on top of a Maxwellian core. We discuss this issue and others associated with this extreme event, which poses serious questions to the standard thick target beam interpretation of solar flares.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

EVOLUTION OF CURRENTS OF OPPOSITE SIGNS IN THE FLARE-PRODUCTIVE SOLAR ACTIVE REGION NOAA 10930

Analysis of a time series of high spatial resolution vector magnetograms of the active region NOAA 10930 available from the Solar Optical Telescope SpectroPolarimeter on board Hinode revealed that there is a mixture of upward and downward currents in the two footpoints of an emerging flux rope. The flux emergence rate is almost the same in both the polarities. We observe that along with an increase in magnetic flux, the net current in each polarity increases initially for about three days after which it decreases. This net current is characterized by having exactly opposite signs in each polarity while its magnitude remains almost the same most of the time. The decrease of the net current in both the polarities is due to the increase of current having a sign opposite to that of the net current. The dominant current, with the same sign as the net current, is seen to increase first and then decreases during the major X-class flares. Evolution of non-dominant current appears to be a necessary condition for flare initiation. The above observations can be plausibly explained in terms of the superposition of two different force-free states resulting in a non-zero Lorentz force in the corona. This Lorentz force then pushes the coronal plasma and might facilitate the magnetic reconnection required for flares. Also, the evolution of the net current is found to follow the evolution of magnetic shear at the polarity inversion line.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

VARIABILITY OF PLASMA IN THE HELIOSHEATH

The heliosheath is the shocked solar wind between the termination shock and the heliopause. Plasma properties are highly variable in this region, with factor-of-two variations of density and thermal speed on timescales from tens of minutes to hours to days. Gaussian distributions fit all the heliosheath plasma data well and are used to quantify these variations. We show that these fits can be used to compensate for data lost due to cutoffs in the instrument response and show that the flow angle in the RT plane is about 50% larger than previous determinations. The turbulent component of the flow has about 25% of the flow energy in the heliosheath, but this energy is not a significant percentage of the upstream solar wind flow energy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

NONLINEAR MULTISCALE SIMULATION OF TURBULENT FLUX TUBES

A new method for the full nonlinear computation of sets of turbulent field lines has recently been introduced that allows inclusion of the equivalent of more than four decades of turbulent scales with a fully three-dimensional distribution of wavevectors. The integration scheme is here detailed, which, through transformation of the set of differential equations into mappings, compounds the efficiency and accuracy of the method. The potential of the method is then demonstrated with multiscale simulations of magnetic flux tubes ranging over nearly four decades of length scales both along and across the background field. Magnetic flux tubes of various sizes are computed for a turbulence spectrum typical of the quiet slow solar wind near 1 AU. Implications of the simulation results for the transport of energetic particles, and in particular, for the interpretation of impulsive solar-energetic-particle and upstream ion-event observations are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗