Driving major solar flares and eruptions: A review

By C. Schrijver. 2008

214 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract This review focuses on the processes that energize and trigger M- and X-class solar flares and associated flux-rope destabilizations. Numerical modeling of specific solar regions is hampered by uncertain coronal-field reconstructions and by poorly understood magnetic reconnection; these limitations result in uncertain estimates of field topology, energy, and helicity. The primary advances in understanding field destabilizations therefore come from the combination of generic numerical experiments with interpretation of sets of observations. These suggest a critical role for the emergence of twisted flux ropes into pre-existing strong field for many, if not all, of the active regions that produce M- or X-class flares. The flux and internal twist of the emerging ropes appear to play as important a role in determining whether an eruption will develop predominantly as flare, confined eruption, or CME, as do the properties of the embedding field. Based on reviewed literature, I outline a scenario for major flares and eruptions that combines flux-rope emergence, mass draining, near-surface reconnection, and the interaction with the surrounding field. Whether deterministic forecasting is in principle possible remains to be seen: to date no reliable such forecasts can be made. Large-sample studies based on long-duration, comprehensive observations of active regions from their emergence through their flaring phase are needed to help us better understand these complex phenomena.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/98b59df66516ff8482c1727315c792f68566ef1e

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In Astronomy and Astrophysics

Citations in the corpus

The standard flare model in three dimensions II: upper limit on solar flare energy (2012, background): “Most of the strongest flares are eruptive (as reviewed by Schrijver 2009).”
THE NATURE OF FLARE RIBBONS IN CORONAL NULL-POINT TOPOLOGY (2009, background): “Significant flux emergence occurring within an active region is usually a strong precursor of a flare activity (e.g., Schrijver et al. 2005; Schrijver 2009).”
The Origin, Early Evolution and Predictability of Solar Eruptions (2018, background): “…from strongly non-potential fields where the photospheric magnetic field is nearly parallel to the polarity inversion line (PIL), a so called magnetic shear (e.g. Forbes, 2000; Schrijver, 2009), which stands in contrast to a potential field that runs perpendicular to the PIL and has no free energy.”
An Observational Overview of Solar Flares (2011, background): “The following recent reviews of observations of flare and related phenomena, including theory, are also recommended for further reading: Priest & Forbes (2002); Aschwanden (2002); Benz (2008); Krucker et al. (2008a); Vršnak & Cliver (2008); Schrijver (2009).”
EVOLUTION OF MAGNETIC FIELD AND ENERGY IN A MAJOR ERUPTIVE ACTIVE REGION BASED ON SDO/HMI OBSERVATION (2011, background): “This “storage-release” picture provides a scenario successful in explaining many observed phenomena (e.g. Schrijver 2009).”