Disintegration of an Eruptive Filament via Interactions with Quasi-Separatrix Layers

TL;DR

This study investigates how a solar filament disintegrates during a partial eruption, revealing that interactions with quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) influence filament splitting and drainage along complex magnetic structures.

Contribution

It uncovers the role of two conjoining QSLs in filament disintegration and demonstrates how magnetic topology affects filament drainage and eruption dynamics.

Findings

Filament material drains along legs and to a remote flare ribbon.

Magnetic configuration involves two conjoining QSLs.

Filament disintegration linked to interaction with QSLs.

Abstract

The disintegration of solar filaments via mass drainage is a frequently observed phenomenon during a variety of filament activities. It is generally considered that the draining of dense filament material is directed by both gravity and magnetic field, yet the detailed process remains elusive. Here we report on a partial filament eruption during which filament material drains downward to the surface not only along the filament's legs, but to a remote flare ribbon through a fan-out curtain-like structure. It is found that the magnetic configuration is characterized by two conjoining dome-like quasi-sepratrix layers (QSLs). The filament is located underneath one QSL dome, whose footprint apparently bounds the major flare ribbons resulting from the filament eruption, whereas the remote flare ribbon matches well with the other QSL dome's far-side footprint. We suggest that the interaction of the filament with the overlying QSLs results in the splitting and disintegration of the filament.