Formation of solar prominences and eruption of solar magnetic arcade systems

Abstract

Formation and eruption of solar prominences, coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares are the most magnificent phenomena among solar activities. Observations show that there is an interrelationship among these events and that their manifestation is conditioned by certain common photospheric signatures. One of them is the increase in magnetic shear. In this thesis, the evolution of the solar atmosphere is studied by numerical simulations with photospheric motions as boundary conditions. Firstly, mechanisms of prominence formation are investigated. It is found that prominences can be formed by the development of a thermal instability (1) in a rapidly expanding magnetic arcade, (2) in a magnetic island created by magnetic reconnection or (3) in the current sheet between two bipolar arcades. Secondly, the quasi-static evolution of a magnetic arcade subject to footpoint shearing is studied under the ideal MHD condition. Three distinct evolutionary phases are found, in the last of which a current layer develops and grows indefinitely with the increasing shear. Force-free field solutions are also constructed and compared with dynamic solutions. Finally, resistive evolutions of magnetic arcades are investigated imposing resistivity on the pre-sheared magnetic fields. It is found that there is a critical amount of shear, over which magnetic reconnection can take place to create a magnetic island. The effects of different values and spatial patterns of resistivity are studied. With a localized resistivity, most of principal features in solar eruptive processes are reproduced. A comparative study is made between the numerical results and observations.