The emergence of magnetic flux and its role on the onset of solar dynamic events

Abstract

A plethora of solar dynamic events, such as the formation of active regions, the emission of jets and the occurrence of eruptions is often associated to the emergence of magnetic flux from the interior of the Sun to the surface and above. Here, we present a short review on the onset, driving and/or triggering of such events by magnetic flux emergence. We briefly describe some key observational examples, theoretical aspects and numerical simulations, towards revealing the mechanisms that govern solar dynamics and activity related to flux emergence. We show that the combination of important physical processes like shearing and reconnection of magnetic fieldlines in emerging flux regions or at their vicinity, can power some of the most dynamic phenomena in the Sun on various temporal and spatial scales. Based on previous and recent observational and numerical studies, we highlight that, in most cases, none of these processes alone can drive and also trigger explosive phenomena releasing considerable amount of energy towards the outer solar atmosphere and space, such as flares, jets and large-scale eruptions (e.g. CMEs). In addition, one has to take into account the physical properties of the emerging field (e.g. strength, amount of flux, relative orientation to neighbouring and pre-existing magnetic fields, etc.) in order to better understand the exact role of magnetic flux emergence on the onset of solar dynamic events.

17 pages, 7 figures

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• Decoding the Pre-Eruptive Magnetic Field Configurations of Coronal Mass Ejections
• Sources of Solar Energetic Particles
• Multi-thermal jet formation triggered by flux emergence
• Eruption of a Magnetic Flux Rope in a Comprehensive Radiative Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of flare-productive active regions
• Particle heating and acceleration by reconnecting and non-reconnecting Current Sheets
• On the possibility to probe the flare productivity of an active region on the early stage of emergence
• Planetary statistics and forecasting for solar flares
• On the Lorentz Force and Torque of Solar Photospheric Emerging Magnetic Fields
• Introduction to the physics of solar eruptions and their space weather impact