Magnetic energy release and topology in solar active phenomena

MANDRINI, C.H.

La Serena

Congreso; Segunda Reunión Binacional SOCHIAS-AAA; 2018

The energy released during active atmospheric events in the Sun iscontained in current-carrying magnetic fields that have emerged aftertraversing the solar convective zone. Once the magnetic flux reaches thephotosphere, it may be further stressed via motions in this loweratmospheric layer. Magnetic field reconnection is thought to be themechanism through which the stored magnetic energy is transformed intokinetic energy of accelerated particles and mass flows, and radiativeenergy along the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Though this mechanismis efficient only at very small spatial scales, it may imply alarge-scale restructuring of the magnetic field which is inferred fromthe combined analysis of observations, models of the coronal magneticfield, and computation of its topology. The consequences of energyrelease include events that range from nano-flares, still below ourpresent observational spatial resolution, to powerful flares that may beaccompanied by the ejection of large amounts of plasma and magneticfield in events called coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and stationaryphenomena like the slow solar wind. We will discuss how the computationand analysis of the magnetic field topology, applied to the widestvariety of observed magnetic configurations, can be used to identify theenergy release locations and their physical characteristics.