Evidence for Plasmoid-mediated Magnetic Reconnection during a Small-scale Flare in the Partially Ionized Low Solar Atmosphere

TL;DR

This study provides observational and simulation evidence of plasmoid-mediated magnetic reconnection in the partially ionized lower solar atmosphere, linking small-scale eruptions to larger flare processes.

Contribution

It presents the first high-resolution observations and simulations demonstrating plasmoid structures in the partially ionized lower solar atmosphere during a small-scale flare.

Findings

Observed 150 km plasmoid ejections at 24 km/s in H-alpha images.

Reproduced phenomena with 2.5D MHD simulations showing reconnection fine structures.

Supported the existence of plasmoid-mediated reconnection in partially ionized plasmas.

Abstract

Magnetic reconnection plays a crucial role in the energy release process for different kinds of solar eruptions and activities. The rapid solar eruption requires a fast reconnection model. Plasmoid instability in the reconnecting current sheets is one of the most acceptable fast reconnection mechanisms for explaining the explosive events in the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) scale, which is also a potential bridge between the macroscopic MHD reconnection process and microscale dissipations. Plenty of high resolution observations indicate that the plasmoid-like structures exist in the high temperature solar corona, but such evidences are very rare in the lower solar atmosphere with partially ionized plasmas. Utilizing joint observations from the Goode Solar Telescope (GST) and the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), we discovered a small-scale eruptive phenomenon in NOAA AR 13085, characterized by clear reconnection cusp structures, supported by Nonlinear Force-Free Field (NLFFF) extrapolation results. The plasmoid-like structures with a size about 150 km were observed to be ejected downward from the current sheet at a maximum velocity of 24 km$\cdot$s$^{-1}$ in the H$\alpha$ line wing images, followed by enhanced emissions at around the post flare loop region in multiple wave lengths. Our 2.5D high-resolution MHD simulations further reproduced such a phenomenon and revealed reconnection fine structures. These results provide comprehensive evidences for the plasmoid mediated reconnection in partially ionized plasmas, and suggest an unified reconnection model for solar flares with different length scales from the lower chromosphere to corona.