Optimization code with weighting function for the reconstruction of coronal magnetic fields

TL;DR

This paper presents an optimization-based code for reconstructing 3D coronal magnetic fields, capable of handling both force-free and non-force-free conditions, using minimal boundary data suitable for the Stereo mission.

Contribution

The authors developed a unified optimization code that reconstructs coronal magnetic fields from only the bottom boundary, extending previous methods to more practical observational data.

Findings

Successfully reconstructs magnetic fields from bottom boundary data.

Integrates force-free and non-force-free models in one program.

Designed for application within the Stereo mission.

Abstract

We developed a code for the reconstruction of nonlinear force-free and non-force-free coronal magnetic fields. The 3D magnetic field is computed numerically with the help of an optimization principle. The force-free and non-force-free codes are compiled in one program. The force-free approach needs photospheric vector magnetograms as input. The non-force-free code additionally requires the line-of-sight integrated coronal density distribution in combination with a tomographic inversion code. Previously the optimization approach has been used to compute magnetic fields using all six boundaries of a computational box. Here we extend this method and show how the coronal magnetic field can be reconstructed only from the bottom boundary, where the boundary conditions are measured with vector magnetographs. The program is planed for use within the Stereo mission.