Modeling Pseudo-Streamers with Embedded Magnetic Flux Ropes

For modeling pre-eruptive magnetic configurations of sympathetic solar eruptions, we propose a class of two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) pseudo-streamer models with a pair of embedded magnetic flux ropes (MFRs). These are minimalist models that are constructed by using a minimum set of components required for reproducing the observed salient features of pre-eruptive pseudo-streamer configurations. For example, we obtain the 2D models by superposing only a uniform open field and the fields produced by two MFR currents with their subphotospheric images. The 3D models are constructed similarly by using toroidal MFRs, subphotospheric current coils, and magnetic point sources. The toroidal MFRs are modeled by applying our newly discovered method based on regularized Biot-Savart laws. Due to their simplicity, the proposed models allow us to attack a number of important problems, such as (1) the stability of the configurations in relation to the magnetic flux transfer between the pseudo-streamer lobes and surrounding open field, as well as (2) the impact of the internal structure of the MFRs to their large-scale shapes, for a wide range of dimensionless parameters of the models.

Research supported by NSF, NASA's HSR and LWS Programs, and AFOSR.