Current-sheet Oscillations Caused by Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at the Loop Top of Solar Flares

Abstract

Current sheets (CSs), long stretching structures of magnetic reconnection above solar flare loops, are usually observed to oscillate, their origins, however, are still puzzled at present. Based on a high-resolution 2.5-dimensional MHD simulation of magnetic reconnection, we explore the formation mechanism of the CS oscillations. We find that large-amplitude transverse waves are excited by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) at the highly turbulent cusp-shaped region. The perturbations propagate upward along the CS with a phase speed close to local Alfvén speed thus resulting in the CS oscillations we observe. Though the perturbations damp after propagating for a long distance, the CS oscillations are still detectable. In terms of detected CS oscillations, with a combination of differential emission measure technique, we propose a new method for measuring the magnetic field strength of the CSs and its distribution in height.

Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters

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• Three-dimensional Turbulent Reconnection within Solar Flare Current Sheet
• High $\beta$ magnetic reconnection at different altitudes in the cool low solar atmosphere
• Understanding observational characteristics of solar flare current sheets
• Numerical Investigation of Efficient Electron Acceleration at an Unsteady Solar Flare Loop-Top