We present a new method for performing differential emission measure (DEM) inversions on narrowband EUV images from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The method yields positive definite DEM solutions by solving a linear program. This method has been validated against a diverse set of thermal models of varying complexity and realism. These include (1) idealized gaussian DEM distributions, (2) 3D models of NOAA Active Region 11158 comprising quasi-steady loop atmospheres in a non-linear force-free field, and (3) thermodynamic models from a fully-compressible, 3D MHD simulation of AR corona formation following magnetic flux emergence. We then present results from the application of the method to AIA observations of Active Region 11158, comparing the region's thermal structure on two successive solar rotations. Additionally, we show how the DEM inversion method can be adapted to simultaneously invert AIA and XRT data, and how supplementing AIA data with the latter improves the inversion result. The speed of the method allows for routine production of DEM maps, thus facilitating science studies that require tracking of the thermal structure of the solar corona in time and space.

Magnetic helicity is a conserved quantity of ideal magneto-hydrodynamics characterized by an inverse turbulent cascade. Accordingly, it is often invoked as one of the basic physical quantities driving the generation and structuring of magnetic fields in a variety of astrophysical and laboratory plasmas. We provide here the first systematic comparison of six existing methods for the estimation of the helicity of magnetic fields known in a finite volume. All such methods are reviewed, benchmarked, and compared with each other, and specifically tested for accuracy and sensitivity to errors. To that purpose, we consider four groups of numerical tests, ranging from solutions of the three-dimensional, force-free equilibrium, to magneto-hydrodynamical numerical simulations. Almost all methods are found to produce the same value of magnetic helicity within few percent in all tests. In the more solar-relevant and realistic of the tests employed here, the simulation of an eruptive flux rope, the spread in the computed values obtained by all but one method is only 3 %, indicating the reliability and mutual consistency of such methods in appropriate parameter ranges. However, methods show differences in the sensitivity to numerical resolution and to errors in the solenoidal property of the input fields. In addition to finite volume methods, we also briefly discuss a method that estimates helicity from the field lines' twist, and one that exploits the field's value at one boundary and a coronal minimal connectivity instead of a pre-defined three-dimensional magnetic-field solution.

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Aims. We present the first model that couples the formation of the corona of a solar active region to a model of the emergence of a sunspot pair. This allows us to study when, where, and why active region loops form, and how they evolve. Methods. We use a 3D radiation magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulation of the emergence of an active region through the upper convection zone and the photosphere as a lower boundary for a 3D MHD coronal model. The coronal model accounts for the braiding of the magnetic fieldlines, which induces currents in the corona to heat up the plasma. We synthesize the coronal emission for a direct comparison to observations. Starting with a basically field-free atmosphere we follow the filling of the corona with magnetic field and plasma. Results. Numerous individually identifiable hot coronal loops form, and reach temperatures well above 1 MK with densities comparable to observations. The footpoints of these loops are found where small patches of magnetic flux concentrations move into the sunspots. The loop formation is triggered by an increase in upward-directed Poynting flux at their footpoints in the photosphere. In the synthesized extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission these loops develop within a few minutes. The first EUV loop appears as a thin tube, then rises and expands significantly in the horizontal direction. Later, the spatially inhomogeneous heat input leads to a fragmented system of multiple loops or strands in a growing envelope.

Magnetic reconnection, the rearrangement of magnetic field topology, is a fundamental physical process in magnetized plasma systems all over the universe 1,2 . Its process is difficult to be directly observed. Coronal structures, such as coronal loops and filament spines, often sketch the magnetic field geometry and its changes in the solar corona 3 . Here we show a highly suggestive observation of magnetic reconnection between an erupting solar filament and its nearby coronal loops, resulting in changes in connection of the filament. X-type structures form when the erupting filament encounters the loops. The filament becomes straight, and bright current sheets form at the interfaces with the loops. Many plasmoids appear in these current sheets and propagate bi-directionally. The filament disconnects from the current sheets, which gradually disperse and disappear, reconnects to the loops, and becomes redirected to the loop footpoints. This evolution of the filament and the loops suggests successive magnetic reconnection predicted by theories 1 but rarely detected with such clarity in observations. Our results on the formation, evolution, and disappearance of current sheets, confirm three-dimensional magnetic reconnection theory and have implications for the evolution of dissipation regions and the release of magnetic energy for reconnection in many magnetized plasma systems.Magnetic reconnection 1,2 is considered to play an essential role in the rapid release of the magnetic energy and its conversion to other forms (thermal, kinetic and particle) in magnetized plasma systems (such as accretion disks, solar and stellar coronae, planetary magnetospheres, and laboratory plasmas) throughout the universe. It shows the reconfiguration of the magnetic field geometry. In solar physics, numerous theoretical studies of the magnetic reconnection have been undertaken to explain flares 5 , filament eruptions 6 , et al. In two dimensional (2D) models, reconnection occurs at an X-point where anti-parallel magnetic field lines converge and reconnect 1,5,6 . So far, many observations of magnetic reconnection signatures, e.g., cusp-shaped post-flare loops 7 , loop-top hard X-ray source 3,8 , reconnection inflows 3,9 and outflows 3,10,11 , flare supra-arcades downflows 12,13 , current sheets, and plasmoid ejections 11 , have been reported by using remote sensing data. However, to directly observe the details of magnetic reconnection process is difficult, because of the small spatial scale and the fast temporal evolution of the process.A solar filament is a relatively cool and dense plasma structure in the corona suspended above a magnetic polarity inversion line (PIL), with ends rooted in regions with opposite magnetic polarity. Its spine, a narrow ribbon-like structure through the full filament, consists of horizontal and parallel threads 14 when viewed from above. In the region around a filament, the plasma-beta, i.e., the ratio of thermal to magnetic energy density, is below unity. Because of the high electric conductivity, the...

We present a realistic numerical model of sunspot and active region formation based on the emergence of flux bundles generated in a solar convective dynamo. To this end we use the magnetic and velocity fields in a horizontal layer near the top boundary of the solar convective dynamo simulation to drive realistic radiative-magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the upper most layers of the convection zone. The main results are: (1) The emerging flux bundles rise with the mean speed of convective upflows, and fragment into small-scale magnetic elements that further rise to the photosphere, where bipolar sunspot pairs are formed through the coalescence of the small-scale magnetic elements. (2) Filamentary penumbral structures form when the sunspot is still growing through ongoing flux emergence. In contrast to the classical Evershed effect, the inflow seems to prevail over the outflow in a large part of the penumbra. (3) A well formed sunspot is a mostly monolithic magnetic structures that is anchored in a persistent deep-seated downdraft lane. The flow field outside the spot shows a giant vortex ring that comprises of an inflow below 15 Mm depth and an outflow above 15 Mm depth. (4) The sunspots successfully reproduce the fundamental properties of the observed solar active regions, including the more coherent leading spots with a stronger field strength, and the correct tilts of bipolar sunspot pairs. These asymmetries can be linked to the intrinsic asymmetries in the magnetic and flow fields adapted from the convective dynamo simulation.

We study the writhe, twist and magnetic helicity of different magnetic flux ropes, based on models of the solar coronal magnetic field structure. These include an analytical force-free Titov-Démoulin equilibrium solution, non forcefree magnetohydrodynamic simulations, and nonlinear force-free magnetic field models. The geometrical boundary of the magnetic flux rope is determined by the quasi-separatrix layer and the bottom surface, and the axis curve of the flux rope is determined by its overall orientation. The twist is computed by arXiv:1704.02096v1 [astro-ph.SR] 7 Apr 2017 -2 -the Berger-Prior formula that is suitable for arbitrary geometry and both forcefree and non-force-free models. The magnetic helicity is estimated by the twist multiplied by the square of the axial magnetic flux. We compare the obtained values with those derived by a finite volume helicity estimation method. We find that the magnetic helicity obtained with the twist method agrees with the helicity carried by the purely current-carrying part of the field within uncertainties for most test cases. It is also found that the current-carrying part of the model field is relatively significant at the very location of the magnetic flux rope. This qualitatively explains the agreement between the magnetic helicity computed by the twist method and the helicity contributed purely by the current-carrying magnetic field.

Transient brightenings in the transition region of the Sun have been studied for decades and are usually related to magnetic reconnection. Recently, absorption features due to chromospheric lines have been identified in transition region emission lines raising the question of the thermal stratification during such reconnection events. We analyse data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) in an emerging active region. Here the spectral profiles show clear selfabsorption features in the transition region lines of Si iv. While some indications existed that opacity effects might play some role in strong transition region lines, self-absorption has not been observed before. We show why previous instruments could not observe such self-absorption features, and discuss some implications of this observation for the corresponding structure of reconnection events in the atmosphere. Based on this we speculate that a range of phenomena, such as explosive events, blinkers or Ellerman bombs, are just different aspects of the same reconnection event occurring at different heights in the atmosphere.