Coronal rain formation in a two-fluid approximation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a two-fluid model to study coronal rain formation, highlighting the significance of partial ionization effects and recombination processes in the dynamics of plasma condensation in the solar corona.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed two-fluid simulation of coronal rain formation during 3D spine-fan magnetic reconnection, emphasizing the role of neutral-charged particle interactions.

Findings

Coronal rain blobs appear after 400 seconds in the simulation.

Recombination influences temperature drops and neutral dynamics.

Two-fluid effects are crucial for accurate modeling of coronal rain.

Abstract

Coronal rain, observed in 3D spine-fan magnetic configurations, results from thermal instability in the solar corona, where runaway in-situ cooling causes plasma to condense and drain along the magnetic lines. The reconnection of the magnetic field lines around the null point creates jets, seen as denser structures traveling along the field lines. As these dense regions evolve, thermal instability can set in and ultimately form coronal rain. In this paper we study the importance of partial ionization effects in the formation of coronal rain in the late evolution of 3D spine-fan magnetic reconnection in the solar corona. We use a two-fluid model consisting of neutral and charged particles coupled by collisions, where ionization recombination processes are taken into account. To trigger the thermal instability, we here investigate how magnetic reconnection generates flows that lead to the accumulation of higher-density structures along magnetic field lines. The dynamics associated with the spine-fan magnetic reconnection produces current sheets around the null point and flows along the field lines. Blobs similar to coronal rain start to appear after 400 seconds in the simulation domain which follow the field lines from the direction of the perturbed null point. The temperature drop is accompanied by recombination of charged particles. Recombination effects become important in coronal rain evolution when the temperature drops considerably in the condensed structures. The neutrals are slowed down by recombination, producing decoupling in velocity at the size of the blob, but inside the condensing structure, the neutrals can move faster across the field lines, creating small scale structures. This study presents a novel two-fluid approach to coronal rain, showing that incorporating two-fluid effects is essential for accurately capturing its dynamics.