Hooked flare ribbons and flux-rope related QSL footprints

TL;DR

This study models the magnetic topology of a solar active region to reproduce observed flare ribbons and flux rope structures, validating a numerical method and advancing understanding of flare reconnection sites.

Contribution

It demonstrates that a Grad-Rubin nonlinear force-free field extrapolation can accurately reproduce observed flare ribbons and flux rope features, improving flare prediction models.

Findings

Modeled QSL footprints match observed flare ribbons.

Reproduced complex flux rope structures with multiple twists.

Validated the Grad-Rubin extrapolation method against observations.

Abstract

We studied the magnetic topology of active region 12158 on 2014 September 10 and compared it with the observations before and early in the flare which begins at 17:21 UT (SOL2014-09-10T17:45:00). Our results show that the sigmoidal structure and flare ribbons of this active region observed by SDO/AIA can be well reproduced from a Grad-Rubin non linear force free field extrapolation method. Various inverse-S and -J shaped magnetic field lines, that surround a coronal flux rope, coincide with the sigmoid as observed in different extreme ultraviolet wavelengths, including its multi-threaded curved ends. Also, the observed distribution of surface currents in the magnetic polarity where it was not prescribed is well reproduced. This validates our numerical implementation and set-up of the Grad-Rubin method. The modeled double inverse-J shaped Quasi-Separatrix Layer (QSL) footprints match the observed flare ribbons during the rising phase of the flare, including their hooked parts. The spiral-like shape of the latter may be related to a complex pre-eruptive flux rope with more than one turn of twist, as obtained in the model. These ribbon-associated flux-rope QSL-footprints are consistent with the new standard flare model in 3D, with the presence of a hyperbolic flux tube located below an inverse tear drop shaped coronal QSL. This is a new step forward forecasting the locations of reconnection and ribbons in solar flares, and the geometrical properties of eruptive flux ropes.