HR: 09:15h
AN: SH41A-05    [PDF]
TI: Models of Three-dimensional Flux Ropes and Their Stability
AU: Schindler, K
EM: ks@tp4.ruhr-uni-bochum.de
AF: Ruhr-Univesity Bochum, Universitaetsstrasse, Bochum, D-44780 Germany
AU: * Birn, J
EM: jbirn@lanl.gov
AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, MS D466, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Forbes, T G
EM: terry.forbes@unh.edu
AF: University of New Hampshire, Morse Hall, 39 College Road, Durham, NH 03824 United States
AB: A crucial problem in the study of coronal mass ejections is the understanding of the evolution prior to the eruption and the development of initial configurations and boundary conditions that can produce an eruption of the field configuration and the identification of observable features from these configurations. We present a general framework to derive approximate equilibrium configurations suitable to describe pre-eruption states, using an approach originally developed for the Earth's magnetotail but including magnetic shear and gravity. We illustrate the approach by deriving configurations for both force-free and non-force-free states. The variable models contain a twisted flux rope, connected to the photosphere and anchored in the corona by an overlying arcade. The models may also include a magnetic configuration above the flux rope typical for helmet streamers. Using three-dimensional MHD simulations, we also ivestigate the models for their stability.
DE: 7509 Corona
DE: 7513 Coronal mass ejections
DE: 7524 Magnetic fields
SC: SPA - Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting