Data-driven MHD Simulation of the Formation of a Magnetic Flux Rope and an Inclined Solar Eruption

TL;DR

This study uses data-driven MHD simulations to model the formation and eruption of a magnetic flux rope in the solar corona, providing insights into flare initiation and eruption direction prediction.

Contribution

It demonstrates the application of zero-beta MHD simulations with observational data to reproduce flux rope formation and eruption mechanisms in a specific active region.

Findings

Eruption triggered by torus instability growth.

Formation of twisted magnetic flux rope prior to eruption.

Simulation offers a potential method to predict eruption direction.

Abstract

Solar energetic events are caused by the release of magnetic energy accumulated in the solar atmosphere. To understand their initiating physical mechanisms, the dynamics of the coronal magnetic fields must be studied. Unfortunately, the dominant mechanisms are still unclear due to lack of direct measurements. Numerical simulations based on magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) can reproduce the dynamical evolution of solar coronal magnetic field providing a useful tool to explore flare initiation. Data-driven MHD simulations, in which the time-series observational data of the photospheric magnetic field is used as the simulation boundary condition, can explore different mechanisms. To investigate the accumulation of free magnetic energy through to a solar eruption, we simulated the first of several large flares in NOAA Active Region 11283. We used a data-driven model (Kaneko et al 2021) that was governed by zero-beta MHD, focusing on the free magnetic energy accumulation prior to the M5.3 flare (September 6, 01:59 UT, 2011). We reproduced the flare-associated eruption following the formation of twisted magnetic fields, or a magnetic flux rope (MFR), formed by photospheric motions at its footpoints. We found that the eruption was first triggered by the growth of the torus instability. The erupting MFR caused magnetic reconnections with neighboring magnetic field lines located along the direction of the eruption. Using the simulation results and an axial-radial decay index centered on the MFR, we find a natural explanation for the inclination of the eruption and a possible approach to predict the direction of solar eruptive events.