Magnetic reconnection is a main process converting the magnetic energy into thermal and kinetic energy in plasmas. It is one of the fundamental problems of crucial importance not only to space plasmas physics and space weather studies,such as the solar flare,coronal mass ejections and magnetospheric substorms,but also to the stability analysis in magnetically confined fusion. In general,except for cases with periodical boundary conditions,three-dimensional(3D) magnetic re-connection occurs on magnetic separatrices generated by magnetic nulls. Here we briefly introduce/review the theories and some recent satellite observations of 3D magnetic reconnection. Topics to be further studied are also discussed.
Flare-induced signals in polarization measurements which were manifested as apparent polarity reversal in magnetograms have been reported since 1981. We are motivated to further quantify the phenomenon by asking two questions： can we distinguish the flare-induced signals from real magnetic changes during flares, and what we can learn about flare energy release from the flare-induced signals？ We select the X2.6 flare that occurred on 2005 January 15, for further study. The flare took place in NOAA active region （AR） 10720 at approximately the central meridian, which makes the interpretation of the vector magnetograms less ambiguous. We have identified that flare-induced signals during this flare appeared in six zones. The zones are located within an average distance of 5 Mm from their weight center to the main magnetic neutral line, have an average size of （0.6±0.4） ×10^17 cm^2, duration of 13±4 min, and flux density change of 181±125 G in the area of reversed polarity. The following new facts have been revealed by this study： （1） the flare-induced signal is also seen in the transverse magnetograms but with smaller magnitude, e.g., about 50 G; （2） the flare-induced signal mainly manifests itself as apparent polarity reversal, but the signal starts and ends as a weakening of flux density; （3） The flare-induced signals appear in phase with the peaks of hard X-ray emission as observed by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager （RHESSI）, and mostly trace the position of RHESSI hard X-ray footpoint sources. （4） in four zones, it takes place cotemporally with real magnetic changes which persist after the flare. Only for the other two zones does the flux density recover to the pre-flare level immediately after the flare. The physical implications of the flare-induced signal are discussed in view of its relevance to the non-thermal electron precipitation and primary energy release in the flare.
Meng ZhaoJing-Xiu WangSarah MatthewsMing-De DingHui ZhaoChun-Lan Jin
From the observed vector magnetic fields by the Solar Optical Telescope/ Spectro-Polarimeter aboard the satellite Hinode, we have examined whether or not the quiet Sun magnetic fields are non-potential, and how the G-band filigrees and Ca II network bright points （NBPs） are associated with the magnetic non-potentiality. A sizable quiet region in the disk center is selected for this study. The new findings by the study are as follows. （1） The magnetic fields of the quiet region are obviously non-potential. The region-average shear angle is 40°, the average vertical current is 0.016A m^-2, and the average free magnetic energy density, 2.7× 10^2erg cm^-3. The magnitude of these non-potential quantities is comparable to that in solar active regions. （2） There are overall correlations among current helicity, free magnetic energy and longitudinal fields. The magnetic non-potentiality is mostly concentrated in the close vicinity of network elements which have stronger longitudinal fields. （3） The filigrees and NBPs are magnetically characterized by strong longitudinal fields, large electric helicity, and high free energy density. Because the selected region is away from any enhanced network, these new results can generally be applied to the quiet Sun. The findings imply that stronger network elements play a role in high magnetic non-potentiality in heating the solar atmosphere and in conducting the solar wind.
Meng Zhao Jing-Xiu Wang Chun-Lan Jin Gui-Ping Zhou
We examine chromospheric oscillations in both a coronal hole (CH) and a quiet Sun (QS) region, by employing Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) and Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) data on September 14 and 16, 2004. For the CH, the average oscillation periods of network magnetic field and non-magnetic field (NMF) regions are 257 and 222 s, respectively, and the average period of network field is longer than that of NMF region by 15.8%. In the QS, the average oscillation period is the 225 s for network field and 212 s for the NMF region. The average period of the network field is also longer than that of the NMF region by 6.1%. For the network region, we find that the average period in the CH is longer than that in the QS by 14.2%. This difference between CH and QS is possibly caused by different magnetic configurations i.e. the open magnetic field in the CH and the close field in the QS.
After examining the data observed by TRACE 171 and 195 from May 1998 to December 2006, we choose as our sample 190 (39 X-class and 151 M-class) flare events which display post-flare loops (PFLs). We investigate the brightening propagation of these PFLs of the events in the sample along the magnetic neutral lines. In most of the cases, the length of the flare ribbons (FRs) ranges from 20 to 170 Mm. The propagating duration of the brightening lasts 10-60 min. The velocities of the propagation associated with the flare strength and the length of the FRs, range from 5 to 35 km·s-1. Furthermore, a greater propagating velocity corresponds to a greater deceleration (or acceleration). These PFLs display three types of propagating patterns: (1) the brightening begins at the middle part of a set of PFLs, and propagates bi-directionally towards its both ends; (2) the brightening first appears at one end of a set of PFLs, and then propagates to the other; (3) the initial brightening takes place at two (or more than two) positions on two (or more than two) sets of PFLs, and each brightening propagates bi-directionally along the magnetic neutral line.
