On the Nature of the Extreme-Ultraviolet Late Phase of Solar Flares

TL;DR

This study investigates the causes of the EUV late phase in solar flares, analyzing whether long-lasting cooling or additional heating is responsible, using modeling and observational data from SDO.

Contribution

The paper combines EBTEL modeling, observational analysis, and magnetic field modeling to explore the mechanisms behind the EUV late phase in solar flares, highlighting the roles of cooling and heating.

Findings

Long-lasting cooling can explain the EUV late phase emission.

Additional heating may also contribute to the late phase.

EUV late phase can originate from specific magnetic configurations.

Abstract

The extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) late phase of solar flares is a second peak of warm coronal emissions (e.g., Fe XVI) for many minutes to a few hours after the GOES soft X-ray peak. It was first observed by the EUV Variability Experiment (EVE) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The late phase emission originates from a second set of longer loops (late phase loops) that are higher than the main flaring loops. It is suggested as being caused by either additional heating or long-lasting cooling. In this paper, we study the role of long-lasting cooling and additional heating in producing the EUV late phase using the "enthalpy-based thermal evolution of loops" (EBTEL) model. We find that a long cooling process in late phase loops can well explain the presence of the EUV late phase emission, but we cannot exclude the possibility of additional heating in the decay phase. Moreover, we provide two preliminary methods based on the UV and EUV emissions from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board SDO to determine whether an additional heating plays some role or not in the late phase emission. Using nonlinear force-free field modeling, we study the magnetic configuration of the EUV late phase. It is found that the late phase can be generated either in hot spine field lines associated with a magnetic null point or in large-scale magnetic loops of multipolar magnetic fields. In this paper, we also discuss why the EUV late phase is usually observed in warm coronal emissions and why the majority of flares do not exhibit an EUV late phase.