Evolution of magnetic fields and energy release processes during homologous eruptive flares

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic field evolution and energy release mechanisms behind three homologous eruptive flares in an active region, highlighting flux rope eruptions, magnetic energy build-up, and the tether-cutting trigger.

Contribution

It provides detailed observational evidence linking photospheric magnetic changes to coronal energy release and flare intensities, emphasizing the role of flux ropes and tether-cutting in homologous eruptions.

Findings

Flux ropes erupted within a densely packed loop system.

Magnetic energy gradually built up before each flare.

Tether-cutting likely triggered the eruptions.

Abstract

We explore the processes of repetitive build-up and explosive release of magnetic energy together with the formation of magnetic flux ropes that eventually resulted into three homologous eruptive flares of successively increasing intensities (i.e., M2.0, M2.6, and X1.0). The flares originated from NOAA active region 12017 during 2014 March 28-29. EUV observations and magnetogram measurements together with coronal magnetic field modeling suggest that the flares were triggered by the eruption of flux ropes embedded by a densely packed system of loops within a small part of the active region. In X-rays, the first and second events show similar evolution with single, compact sources, while the third event exhibits multiple emission centroids with a set of strong non-thermal conjugate sources at 50-100 keV during the HXR peak. The photospheric magnetic field over an interval of approximately 44 hr encompassing the three flares undergoes important phases of emergence and cancellation processes together with significant changes near the polarity inversion lines within the flaring region. Our observations point toward the tether-cutting mechanism as the plausible triggering process of the eruptions. Between the second and third event, we observe a prominent phase of flux emergence which temporally correlates with the build-up phase of free magnetic energy in the active region corona. In conclusion, our analysis reveals an efficient coupling between the rapidly evolving photospheric and coronal magnetic fields in the active region that led to a continued phase of the build-up of free energy, resulting into the homologous flares of successively increasing intensities.