Magnetic reconnection as a mecahnism for solar flares

BAGALÁ. L.G.; ROVIRA, M.G.; MANDRINI, C.H.; DÉMOULIN, P.; HÉNOUX, J.C.

Foz do Iguacu

Congreso; 7th International Conference on Plasma Physics; 1994

In this paper we summarize the results of our quantitative analysis of the 3D magnetic topology of several active regions (ARs). We show that the flare brightenings in different wavelengths (H-alpha, UV, X-rays) are located at the intersection of separatrices with the chromospheric plane. Flare kernels are magnetically connected by field lines passing close to the separator in different types of configurations. We also find that photospheric current concentrations are associated with flare brightenings and can be linked in the corona by field lines following separatrices, supporting the hypothesis that magnetic energy is stored in field-aligned currents. Since magnetic reconnection is expected to take place at the separator region or on separatrices, these results strongly suggest that this is the process driving energy release in solar flares.