Simulating the formation and eruption of flux rope by magneto-friction model driven by time-dependent electric fields

TL;DR

This paper uses a magneto-friction model driven by time-dependent electric fields to simulate flux rope formation and eruption in solar active regions, matching observations and revealing detailed magnetic topologies.

Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation approach that accurately captures flux rope evolution and eruption timing based on observed magnetic fields.

Findings

Simulated magnetic structures resemble observed inverse S-sigmoids.

Proxy emission maps match EUV observations with high fidelity.

Topological analysis aligns with standard flare models.

Abstract

Aiming to capture the formation and eruption of flux ropes (FRs) in the source active regions (ARs), we simulate the coronal magnetic field evolution of the AR 11429 employing the time-dependent magneto-friction model (TMF). The initial field is driven by electric fields that are derived from time-sequence photospheric vector magnetic field observations by invoking ad-hoc assumptions. The simulated magnetic structure evolves from potential to twisted fields over the course of two days, followed by rise motion in the later evolution, depicting the formation of FR and its slow eruption later. The magnetic configuration resembles an inverse S-sigmoidal structure, composed of a potential field enveloping the inverse J-shaped fields that are shared past one another and a low lying twisted field along the major PIL. To compare with observations, proxy emission maps based on averaged current density along the field lines are generated from the simulated field. These emission maps exhibit a remarkable one-to-one correspondence with the spatial characteristics in coronal EUV images, especially the filament-trace supported by the twisted magnetic field in the south-west subregion. Further, the topological analysis of the simulated field reveals the co-spatial flare ribbons with the quasi-separatrix layers, which is consistent with the standard flare models; therefore, the extent of the twist and orientation of the erupting FR is indicated to be the real scenario in this case. The TMF model simulates the coronal field evolution, correctly capturing the formation of the FR in the observed time scale and the twisted field generated from these simulations serve as the initial condition for the full MHD simulations.