Relative Alpha in the Magneto-Hydro-Dynamics (MHD) with open magnetic field boundary and its application to the solar eruption

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new instability criterion in magneto-hydro-dynamics with open magnetic boundary conditions, using a relative alpha coefficient derived from magnetic energy, flux, and helicity, to predict solar eruptions.

Contribution

It proposes a novel instability criterion based on a relative alpha coefficient, validated with observational data to predict solar eruptions more accurately.

Findings

The relative alpha coefficient correlates with magnetic reconnection events.

The method accurately predicts the timing of major solar flares.

The approach improves space weather forecasting capabilities.

Abstract

An instability criterion in the MHD with the open boundary of magnetic field is proposed in this paper. We use a series of linear force-free extrapolation field, in which the normal part of magnetic field is fixed, to obtain the linear fitting coefficient called relative alpha by using the co-joined value of magnetic free energy and magnetic flux at the open boundary ($E_f \Phi ^2$) and the square of relative magnetic helicity ($H_R^2$). We calculate this coefficient of the magnetic field above active regions NOAA~8210 and NOAA~11429 obtained by the photospheric-data-driven magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model. It is found that the fitting coefficient is a good proxy of the criterion to indicate the occurrence of instability after which the magnetic reconnection happens and caused the fast release of magnetic energy. We also applied this method to the continuous evolution of three-dimension magnetic field of NOAA~11158 based on the measurement of photospheric vector magnetic field of SDO/HMI by the Non-linear Force-Free (NLFF) extrapolation method. The calculated coefficient when the major flare happened based on the extrapolation data is very close to the expected ones, which perfectly reflects the occurrence of instability and the difference is even less than 7\%. This relative alpha is very helpful to evaluate how far it is from the instability in the MHD and quantitatively estimate the occurrence of solar eruption in the space weather forecast.