The Relationship Between Active Region Twist & Solar Flaring Activity

Twisted magnetic field lines in solar active regions constitute stressed flux systems -- the reconnection of which can release the stored (excess) energy in the form of solar flares. The explosive release of energy through such flares, beyond contributing to the heating of the solar corona, can sometimes affect the near-Earth Space environment and trigger geomagnetic storms. Here we explore the relationship between solar flares and the pre-flare magnetic topology (characterized by the twist α in the magnetic fields lines) of the active regions in which the flares originate. We have discovered that flares are preferentially initiated in sub-regions that have an high gradient in twist and lie close to chirality inversion lines (which separate regions with twist of opposite handedness). Our results imply that the topology of magnetic field lines -- as characterized by the twist parameter α -- plays an important role in magnetic reconnection and flaring events.