Field-Aligned Electric Field Caused by the Decay of Force-Free Magnetic Field and Particle Acceleration
Abstract
Numerical simulation for the dynamics of a coronal filamentary magnetic loop has been made under the assumption that the field is initially force-free and an electric resistivity suddenly increases at a given moment due to an appearance of ion sound waves, which can be excited due to a high current density if a characteristic radius r0 of the magnetic loop is about 3 km or less in a magnetic field B0 of 1000 G. During the resistive decay of the magnetic field a strong field-aligned electric field is created and maintained for a sufficient time to acceleratie both electrons and protons to a high energy, which is proportional to B0/r0 and can be 100 MeV if r0 = 10 km and B0 = 1000 G. If the coronal magnetic tube is composed of many such filamentary loops, the total number of accelerated electrons is consistent with the observations.
- Publication:
-
Solar Physics
- Pub Date:
- September 1987
- DOI:
- 10.1007/BF00152026
- Bibcode:
- 1987SoPh..107..283T
- Keywords:
-
- Coronal Loops;
- Digital Simulation;
- Electric Fields;
- Force-Free Magnetic Fields;
- Particle Acceleration;
- Solar Prominences;
- Current Density;
- Decay;
- Electric Current;
- Electron Plasma;
- Solar Flares;
- Solar Physics;
- Magnetic Field;
- Sufficient Time;
- Sound Wave;
- Particle Acceleration;
- Electric Resistivity