HR: 08:55h
AN: SH21A-04    [PDF]
TI: Magnetic Reconnection Rate and Mass Acceleration in Flare-CME Events
AU: * Qiu, J
EM: qiuj@plage.njit.edu
AF: Center for Solar Research, NJIT, 323 MLKing blvd, Newark, nj 07102
AB: To understand the role of magnetic reconnection in the early stage of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), an observational relationship is yet to be established between magnetic reconnection and the dynamical evolution of the mass acceleration. We present measurements of the magnetic reconnection rate, in terms of the electric field inside the reconnecting current sheet and the rate of magnetic flux convected into the diffusion region, in two well observed two-ribbon flares, which are compared with the dynamical evolution of filament eruption and CMEs associated with the flares. We find that there is a good temporal correlation between the magnetic reconnection rate, represented by $E_{rec}$, and the mass acceleration $a$ in both events studied in this paper. With the given temporal resolution, $E_{rec}$ and $a$ rise and decay together, and reach the maxima coincidently. The time profile of $E_{rec}$ also correlates well with the flare non-thermal emission, both peaking during the rise of soft X-ray emission. We also discuss the magnitude and time scales of magnetic reconnection and mass acceleration revealed in the observations, and explore the structure of the evolving flux rope with available observations.
DE: 7513 Coronal mass ejections
DE: 7519 Flares
DE: 7531 Prominence eruptions
SC: SPA - Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting