Dynamics of braided coronal loops - I. Onset of magnetic reconnection

Abstract

The response of the solar coronal magnetic field to small-scale photospheric boundary motions including the possible formation of current sheets via the Parker scenario is one of open questions of solar physics. Here we address the problem via a numerical simulation. The three-dimensional evolution of a braided magnetic field which is initially close to a force-free state is followed using a resistive MHD code. A long-wavelength instability takes place and leads to the formation of two thin current layers. Magnetic reconnection occurs across the current sheets with three-dimensional features shown, including an elliptic magnetic field structure about the reconnection site, and results in an untwisting of the global field structure.

18 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (4)

• 3D Null Point Reconnection Regimes
• Magnetic Braiding and Quasi-Separatrix Layers
• Magnetohydrodynamic evolution of magnetic skeletons
• Lagrangian relaxation schemes for calculating force-free magnetic fields, and their limitations

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