A fundamental mechanism of solar eruption initiation

• Published in: Nature astronomy Vol. 5; no. 11; pp. 1126 - 1138
• Main Authors: Jiang, Chaowei, Feng, Xueshang, Liu, Rui, Yan, XiaoLi, Hu, Qiang, Moore, Ronald L., Duan, Aiying, Cui, Jun, Zuo, Pingbing, Wang, Yi, Wei, Fengsi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.11.2021; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/33/34/4124; 639/33/525/870; Astronomy; Astrophysics and Cosmology; Explosions; Magnetism; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Topology
• ISSN: 2397-3366; 2397-3366
• DOI: 10.1038/s41550-021-01414-z

Solar eruptions are spectacular magnetic explosions in the Sun’s corona, and how they are initiated remains unclear. Prevailing theories often rely on special magnetic topologies that may not generally exist in the pre-eruption source region of corona. Here, using fully three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations with high accuracy, we show that solar eruptions can be initiated in a single bipolar configuration with no additional special topology. Through photospheric shearing motion alone, an electric current sheet forms in the highly sheared core field of the magnetic arcade during its quasi-static evolution. Once magnetic reconnection sets in, the whole arcade is expelled impulsively, forming a fast-expanding twisted flux rope with a highly turbulent reconnecting region underneath. The simplicity and efficacy of this scenario argue strongly for its fundamental importance in the initiation of solar eruptions. Fully three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations show that solar eruptions can be simply and efficiently initiated in a single bipolar configuration through photospheric shearing motion alone, without the need of any additional special topology.