Thermodynamic Evolution of Solar Flare Supra-arcade Downflows

TL;DR

This study analyzes the thermodynamic evolution of Supra-arcade Downflows (SADs) in solar flares, revealing that adiabatic compression mainly heats SADs and that temperature changes correlate with kinetic energy variations.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed DEM-based analysis of SAD temperature and emission measure evolution, linking thermodynamics with plasma dynamics during solar flares.

Findings

SAD temperatures increase during downward flow.

Pressure and temperature follow adiabatic relations.

Temperature increase correlates with decrease in kinetic energy.

Abstract

Solar flares are rapid energy release phenomena that appear as bright ribbons in the chromosphere and high-temperature loops in the corona, respectively. Supra-arcade Downflows (SADs) are plasma voids that first come out above the flare loops and then move quickly towards the flare loop top during the decay phase of the flare. In our work, we study 20 SADs appearing in three flares. By differential emission measure (DEM) analysis, we calculate the DEM weighted average temperature and emission measure (EM) of the front region and the main body of SADs. It is found that the temperatures of the SAD front and body tend to increase during the course of SADs flowing downwards. The relationship between the pressure and temperature fits well with the adiabatic equation for both the SAD front and body, suggesting that the heating of SADs is mainly caused by adiabatic compression. Moreover, we also estimate the velocities of SADs via the Fourier Local Correlation Tracking (FLCT) method and find that increase of the temperature of the SAD front presents a correlation with the decrease of the SAD kinetic energy, while the SAD body does not, implying that the viscous process may also heat the SAD front in spite of a limited role.