A General Theory of Connectivity and Current Sheets in Coronal Magnetic Fields Anchored to Discrete Sources
Abstract
A scheme is presented for mapping the connectivity of a potential magnetic field arising from an arbitrary distribution of discrete sources. The field lines interconnecting the sources are classified into Nd domains, defining the field's connectivity. The number of domains is shown to depend on the number of sources and on the numbers of nulls and separators according to a simple relation. A class of nonpotential equilibria are then generated by minimizing magnetic energy subject to constraints on the flux of each domain. The resulting equilibria are current-free within each domain and contain singular currents along each of the field's separators.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- November 2002
- DOI:
- 10.1086/342750
- Bibcode:
- 2002ApJ...579..468L
- Keywords:
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- Magnetohydrodynamics: MHD;
- Sun: Corona;
- Sun: Magnetic Fields