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Abstract We investigated the initiation and the evolution of an X7.1-class solar flare observed in NOAA Active Region 13842 on 2024 October 1, based on a data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation. The nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) extrapolated from the photospheric magnetic field about 1 hr before the flare was used as the initial condition for the MHD simulations. The NLFFF reproduces highly sheared field lines that undergo tether-cutting reconnection in the MHD simulation, leading to the formation of a highly twisted magnetic flux rope (MFR), which then erupts rapidly, driven by both torus instability and magnetic reconnection. This paper focuses on the dynamics of the MFR and its role in eruptions. We find that magnetic reconnection in the preeruption phase is crucial in the subsequent eruption driven by the torus instability. Furthermore, our simulation indicates that magnetic reconnection also directly enhances the torus instability. These results suggest that magnetic reconnection is not just a by-product of the eruption due to reconnecting of postflare arcade, but also plays a significant role in accelerating the MFR during the eruption.
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This content will become publicly available on September 17, 2026
A Data-constrained Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of Successive X-class Flares in Solar Active Region 13842. II. Dynamics of the Solar Eruption Associated with the X9.0 Solar Flare
Abstract Active region NOAA 13842 produced two successive solar flares: an X7.1-class flare on 2024 October 1, and an X9.0-class flare on 2024 October 3. This study continues our previous simulation work that successfully reproduced the X7.1-class solar flare. In this study, we performed a data-constrained magnetohydrodynamic simulation using the nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) as the initial condition to investigate the X9.0-class solar flare. The NLFFF showed the sheared field lines, resulting in the tether-cutting reconnection, the magnetic flux ropes, and eventually led to eruption. The magnetic reconnection during the pre-eruption phase plays a critical role in accelerating the subsequent eruption, which is driven by torus instability and magnetic reconnection. Furthermore, our simulation results are consistent with several observational features associated with the X9.0 flare. This simulation could reproduce diverse phenomena associated with the X9.0 flare, including the tether-cutting reconnection, the flare ribbons and the postflare loops, the transverse field enhancement, and the remote brightening away from the flare ribbons. However, the initial trigger, magnetic flux emergence, was inferred from observations rather than explicitly modeled, and future comprehensive simulations should incorporate this mechanism directly.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2114201
- PAR ID:
- 10648205
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Astronomical Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 991
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 77
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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