Deciphering the Evolution of Thermodynamic Properties and their Connection to the Global Kinematics of High-Speed Coronal Mass Ejections Using FRIS Model

TL;DR

This study investigates the thermodynamic evolution of fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs) using the FRIS model, revealing heat-release and absorption phases, and links these to their kinematic behavior and internal forces.

Contribution

It introduces a combined analysis of thermodynamic properties and global kinematics of CMEs using the FRIS model with observational data, highlighting thermodynamic state transitions.

Findings

CMEs show initial heat release followed by heat absorption and near-isothermal states.

Transition from heat release to absorption occurs around 3-7 solar radii.

Higher expansion speeds correlate with less sharp temperature decreases.

Abstract

Most earlier studies have been limited to estimating the kinematic evolution of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and only limited efforts have been made to investigate their thermodynamic evolution. We focus on the interplay of the thermal properties of CMEs with their observed global kinematics. We implement the Flux rope Internal State (FRIS) model to estimate variations in the polytropic index, heating rate per unit mass, temperature, pressure, and various internal forces. The model incorporates inputs of 3D kinematics obtained from the Graduated Cylindrical Shell (GCS) model. In our study, we chose nine fast-speed CMEs from 2010 to 2012. Our investigation elucidates that the selected fast-speed CMEs show a heat-release phase at the beginning, followed by a heat-absorption phase with a near-isothermal state in their later propagation phase. The thermal state transition, from heat release to heat absorption, occurs at around 3($\pm$0.3) to 7($\pm$0.7) $R_\odot$ for different CMEs. We found that the CMEs with higher expansion speeds experience a less pronounced sharp temperature decrease before gaining a near-isothermal state. The differential emission measurement (DEM) analysis findings, using multi-wavelength observation from SDO/AIA, also show a heat release state of CMEs at lower coronal heights. We also find the dominant internal forces influencing CME radial expansion at varying distances from the Sun. Our study shows the need to characterize the internal thermodynamic properties of CMEs better in both observational and modeling studies, offering insights for refining assumptions of a constant value of the polytropic index during the evolution of CMEs.