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Abstract Two new schemes for identifying field lines involved in eruptions, the r -scheme and q -scheme, are proposed to analyze the eruptive and confined nature of solar flares, as extensions to the original r m scheme proposed in Lin et al. Motivated by three solar flares originating from NOAA Active Region 12192 that are misclassified by r m , we introduce refinements to the r -scheme employing the “magnetic twist flux” to approximate the force balance acting on a magnetic flux rope (MFR); in the q -scheme, the reconnected field is represented by those field lines that anchor in the flare ribbons. Based on data obtained by the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, the coronal magnetic field for 51 flares larger than M5.0 class, from 29 distinct active regions, is constructed using a nonlinear force-free field extrapolation model. Statistical analysis based on linear discriminant function analysis is then performed, revealing that despite both schemes providing moderately successful classifications for the 51 flares, the coronal mass ejection-eruptivity classification for the three target events can only be improved with the q -scheme. We find that the highly twisted field lines and the flare-ribbon field lines have equal average force-free constant α , but all of the flare-ribbon-related field lines are shorter than 150 Mm in length. The findings lead us to conclude that it is challenging to distinguish the MFR from the ambient magnetic field using any quantity based on common magnetic nonpotentiality measures.
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A New Magnetic Parameter of Active Regions Distinguishing Large Eruptive and Confined Solar Flares
Abstract With the aim of investigating how the magnetic field in solar active regions (ARs) controls flare activity, i.e., whether a confined or eruptive flare occurs, we analyze 106 flares of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite class ≥M1.0 during 2010–2019. We calculate mean characteristic twist parameters α FPIL within the “flaring polarity inversion line” region and α HFED within the area of high photospheric magnetic free energy density, which both provide measures of the nonpotentiality of the AR core region. Magnetic twist is thought to be related to the driving force of electric current-driven instabilities, such as the helical kink instability. We also calculate total unsigned magnetic flux (Φ AR ) of ARs producing the flare, which describes the strength of the background field confinement. By considering both the constraining effect of background magnetic fields and the magnetic nonpotentiality of ARs, we propose a new parameter α /Φ AR to measure the probability for a large flare to be associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME). We find that in about 90% of eruptive flares, α FPIL /Φ AR and α HFED /Φ AR are beyond critical values (2.2 × 10 −24 and 3.2 × 10 −24 Mm −1 Mx −1 ), whereas they are less than critical values in ∼80% of confined flares. This indicates that the new parameter α /Φ AR is well able to distinguish eruptive flares from confined flares. Our investigation suggests that the relative measure of magnetic nonpotentiality within the AR core over the restriction of the background field largely controls the capability of ARs to produce eruptive flares.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1848250
- PAR ID:
- 10398294
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal Letters
- Volume:
- 926
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2041-8205
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- L14
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac5251
