Testing Circuit Models for the Energies of Coronal Magnetic Field Configurations
Abstract
Circuit models involving bulk currents and inductances are often used to estimate the energies of coronal magnetic field configurations, in particular configurations associated with solar flares. The accuracy of circuit models is tested by comparing calculated energies of linear force-free fields with specified boundary conditions with corresponding circuit estimates. The circuit models are found to provide reasonable (order of magnitude) estimates for the energies of the non-potential components of the fields, and to reproduce observed functional dependences of the energies. However, substantial departure from the circuit estimates is observed for large values of the force-free parameter, and this is attributed to the influence of the non-potential component of the field on the path taken by the current.
- Publication:
-
Solar Physics
- Pub Date:
- January 2004
- DOI:
- 10.1023/B:SOLA.0000021802.77886.c9
- arXiv:
- arXiv:astro-ph/0311018
- Bibcode:
- 2004SoPh..219..109W
- Keywords:
-
- Boundary Condition;
- Magnetic Field;
- Flare;
- Functional Dependence;
- Solar Flare;
- Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 16 pages, 8 figures, to appear in Solar Physics