Observation of bi-directional jets in a prominence

Hillier, Andrew; Polito, Vanessa

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201935774

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Because the value of the Ohmic resistivity coefficient in the solar corona is very small, this non-ideal effect is only relevant at very small scales, where it is possible to have very high values of current density concentrated in thin current sheets (Hornig & Priest 2003). Observations have shown bidirectional jets emerging from null points in the corona and photosphere (Schmieder et al 2022;Schmieder 2022), as well as in prominences (Hillier & Polito 2021), with velocities similar to the Alfvén speed, as is consistent with basic reconnection theory. The current sheets can become unstable, creating secondary magnetic structures often referred to as plasmoids (Shibata & Tanuma 2001).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Magnetic field amplification and structure formation by the Rayleigh-Taylor instability

Braileanu

Lukin

Khomenko

2023

A&A

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We report our results from a set of high-resolution, two-fluid, non-linear simulations of the magnetized Rayleigh Taylor instability (RTI) at the interface between a solar prominence and the corona. These data follow results reported earlier on linear and early non-linear RTI dynamics in this environment. This paper is focused on the generation and amplification of magnetic structures by RTI. The simulations use a two-fluid model that includes collisions between neutrals and charges, including ionization and recombination, energy and momentum transfer, and frictional heating. The 2.5D magnetized RTI simulations demonstrate that in a fully developed state of RTI, a large fraction of the gravitational energy of a prominence thread can be converted into quasi-turbulent energy of the magnetic field. The RTI magnetic energy generation is further accompanied by magnetic and plasma density structure formation, including dynamic formation, break-up, and merging of current sheets and plasmoid sub-structures. The flow decoupling between neutrals and charges, as well as ionization and recombination reactions, are shown to have significant impact on the structure formation in a magnetized RTI.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Magnetic field amplification and structure formation by the Rayleigh-Taylor instability

Braileanu

Lukin

Khomenko

2023

A&A

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“…Magnetic reconnection is responsible for the intermittent events of heating and energy dissipation. Hillier & Polito (2021), using observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), investigated the occurrence of magnetic reconnection events through the ejection of bi-directional blobs along the current sheet developed within an observed prominence. We will look at such reconnection events in a numerical resistive model follow-up study under prominence conditions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulating Rayleigh-Taylor induced magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in prominences

Changmai¹,

Jenkins²,

Durrive³

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Aims. Solar prominences represent large-scale condensations suspended against gravity within the solar atmosphere. The Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) instability is proposed to be one of the important fundamental processes leading to the generation of dynamics at many spatial and temporal scales within these long-lived, cool, and dense structures amongst the solar corona. We aim to study such turbulent processes using high-resolution, direct numerical simulations of solar prominences. Methods. We run 2.5D ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations with the open-source MPI-AMRVAC code far into the nonlinear evolution of an RT instability perturbed at the prominence-corona interface. Our simulation achieves a resolution down to ∼ 23 km on a 2D (x, y) domain of size 30 Mm × 30 Mm. We follow the instability transitioning from a multi-mode linear perturbation to its nonlinear, fully turbulent state. Over the succeeding ∼ 25 minute period, we perform a statistical analysis of the prominence at a cadence of ∼ 0.858 s. Results. We find the dominant guiding B z component induces coherent structure formation predominantly in the vertical velocity V y component, consistent with observations, demonstrating an anisotropic turbulence state within our prominence. We find powerlaw scalings in the inertial range for the velocity, magnetic, and temperature fields. The presence of intermittency is evident from the probability density functions of the field fluctuations, which depart from Gaussianity as we consider smaller and smaller scales. In exact agreement, the higher-order structure functions quantify the multifractality, in addition to different scale characteristics and behavior between the longitudinal and transverse directions. Thus, the statistics remain consistent with the conclusions from previous observational studies, enabling us to directly relate the RT instability to the turbulent characteristics found within quiescent prominence.

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“…Observations of these fascinating structures reveal waves (e.g. Okamoto et al, 2007;Hillier et al, 2013), instabilities (Berger et al, 2008;Berger et al, 2010;Berger et al, 2011;Berger et al, 2017;Hillier and Polito, 2018), reconnection (Hillier and Polito, 2021) and turbulence (Leonardis et al, 2012;Hillier et al, 2017). Overall there is a wide range of dynamic phenomena, all connecting with fundamental MHD theoretical concepts.…”

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confidence: 99%