A possible acceleration mechanism for a solar surge

✍ Scribed by Martin D. Altschuler; Carl G. Lilliequist; Yoshinari Nakagawa

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1968
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 589 KB
• Volume: 5
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0038-0938
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00147150

✦ Synopsis

We examine a non-linear mechanism for a solar surge in which plasma regions of high electrical conductivity and macroscopic dimension can be rapidly accelerated without diffusion of magnetic field. The mechanism is suggested by Rust's observations, which show that surges occur near sunspots in regions of reversed magnetic polarity. For the purposes of numerical calculation, we replace the magnetic field near a polarity reversal in a sunspot by magnetic fields of current loops. The relaxation of the magnetic field generated by two antiparallel coaxial current loops in an incompressible plasma is traced by computer. The results suggest that plasma in the form of a vortex ring can be expelled at the Alfvdn velocity from active solar regions.