Where and how does a decay-index profile become saddle-like?

TL;DR

This study investigates the formation of saddle-like decay index profiles in solar magnetic fields, revealing their dependence on flux distribution configurations and their potential role in solar eruptions, especially in complex magnetic topologies.

Contribution

The paper introduces a model using dipoles to emulate flux distributions and identifies conditions under which saddle-like decay index profiles occur, linking them to magnetic skeletons and eruption mechanisms.

Findings

Saddle-like profiles appear in bipolar and quadrupolar configurations under specific flux arrangements.

Critical height varies with position along the polarity inversion line, roughly half the distance between polarities.

Such profiles are associated with magnetic null points and hyperbolic flux tubes, influencing eruption dynamics.

Abstract

The decay index of solar magnetic fields is known as an important parameter in regulating solar eruptions from the standpoint of the torus instability. In particular, a saddle-like profile of decay index, which hosts a local torus-stable regime at higher altitudes than where the decay index first exceeds the instability threshold, is found to be associated with some confined or two-step eruptions. To understand the occurrence of such a profile, we employed dipoles to emulate different kinds of photospheric flux distributions. Corroborated by observations of representative active regions (ARs), our major results are: 1) in bipolar configurations the critical height increases away from the AR center along the polarity inversion line (PIL) and its average is roughly half of the centroid distance between opposite polarities; 2) in quadrupolar configurations saddle-like profiles appear above the PIL when the two dipoles oriented in the same direction are significantly more separated in this direction than in the perpendicular direction, and when the two dipoles are oriented differently or have unequal fluxes; 3) saddle-like profiles in quadrupolar configurations are associated with magnetic skeletons such as a null point or a hyperbolic flux tube, and the role of such profiles in eruptions is anticipated to be double-edged if magnetic reconnection is involved.