Energy release in braided coronal loops
Abstract
I will examine the dynamics of solar coronal loops containing non-trivial magnetic field line braiding, in the context of Parker's braiding mechanism for coronal heating. The existence of braided force-free equilibria will be discussed, including a demonstration that these equilibria must contain current layers whose thickness deceases for increasing field complexity. The implication for the corona is that if one considers a line-tied coronal loop that is driven by photospheric motions, then the eventual onset of reconnection and energy release is inevitable. Once the initial reconnection event is triggered a turbulent relaxation ensues. The properties of this relaxation will be discussed, together with the expected observational signatures of energy release in such a braided coronal loop.
- Publication:
-
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- April 2017
- Bibcode:
- 2017EGUGA..19.6684P