A Comprehensive Simulation of Solar Wind Formation from the Solar Interior: Significant Cross-field Energy Transport by Interchange Reconnection near the Sun

Abstract

The physical connection between thermal convection in the solar interior and the solar wind remains unclear due to their significant scale separation. Using an extended version of the three-dimensional radiative magnetohydrodynamic code RAMENS, we perform the first comprehensive simulation of the solar wind formation, starting from the wave excitation and the small-scale dynamo below the photosphere. The simulation satisfies various observational constraints as a slow solar wind emanating from the coronal hole boundary. The magnetic energy is persistently released in the simulated corona, showing a hot upward flow at the interface between open and closed fields. To evaluate the energetic contributions from Alfvén wave and interchange reconnection, we develop a new method to quantify the cross-field energy transport in the simulated atmosphere. The measured energy transport from closed coronal loops to open field accounts for approximately half of the total. These findings suggest a significant role of the supergranular-scale interchange reconnection in solar wind formation.

10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in ApJL

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• Coronal Heating and Solar Wind Generation by Flux Cancellation Reconnection
• Propagation of untwisting solar jets from the low-beta corona into the super-Alfvénic wind: Testing a solar origin scenario for switchbacks
• Density fluctuation in the solar corona and solar wind: A comparative analysis of radio-occultation observations and magnetohydrodynamic simulation
• Proposal of a Novel Physical Parameter Characterizing Solar Wind Speed in a Wave-Driven Model
• Data-driven Radiative Magnetohydrodynamics Simulations with the MURaM Code: Coronal Heating and Dynamics in an Emerging Active Region
• What Determines the Brightness of the Magnetically Open Solar Corona?: Insights from Three-dimensional Radiative Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations and Observations