THE TRIGGER MECHANISM OF SOLAR FLARES IN A CORONAL ARCADE

WITH REVERSED MAGNETIC SHEAR

K. Kusano and T. Maeshiro
Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8530, Japan;
kusano@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
T. Yokoyama
Graduate School of Sciences, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
and
T. Sakurai
National Astronomical Observatory, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan
Receivved 2003 November 27; accepted 2004 April 1
ABSTRACT
We have investigated the possibility that magnetic reconnection between oppositely sheared magnetic loops
works as a trigger mechanism of solar ares, based on three-dimensional numerical simulations. The simulations
were carried out by applying a slow footpoint motion, which reverses a preloaded magnetic shear, in the vicinity
of the magnetic neutral line. The simulation results clearly indicated that the reversal of magnetic shear can cause
a large-scale eruption of the magnetic arcade through a series of two different kinds of magnetic reconnections.
The rst reconnection is initiated by the resistive-tearing mode instability growing on the magnetic shear
inversion layer and annihilates the sheared magnetic uxes, which are oppositely directed along the magnetic
neutral line. As a result of this, the magnetic arcade collapses into the reconnection point, and a new current sheet
is generated above and below the shear inversion layer. The generation of new current sheets is followed by
another magnetic reconnection, which drives the eruption of the sheared magnetic arcade. Mutual excitation of
the two reconnections may explain the explosive property of the are onset.
Subject heading qs: MHD Sun: activity Sun: ares Sun: magnetic elds
1. INTRODUCTION
Although magnetic reconnection is widely believed to play
a crucial role in energy relaxation in solar ares, the trigger
mechanism of ares still remains an open problem. Magnetic
reconnection is a self-sustaining process in which stagnated
plasma ow and current sheet thinning mutually drive each
other, once the process starts. However, the fundamental
questions, how and why reconnection starts as an explosive
process in are events, are not yet well understood.
In order to solve these questions, we have to explain the
physical causality that connects the slow evolution of the
photospheric magnetic eld and the eruptive dynamics in
ares. Theoretically, two possibilities, the loss of stability and
the loss of equilibrium, have been pointed out as the cause. In
the loss-of-stability model, the are trigger could be explained
by the destabilization of the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)
mode, for instance the kink instability (Hood & Priest 1979;
Rust & Kumar 1996; Gerrard & Hood 2003). However, since
the growth rate of the conventional MHD instability could
gradually increase as the system slowly comes away from the
stability limit, some nonlinear mechanism, which accelerates
the dynamic timescale, could be necessary in order to explain
the explosive property of ares. On the other hand, the loss-of-
equilibrium model may offer a promising prospect for the
explanation of explosiveness (Forbes & Priest 1995). How-
ever, it is still unknown whether the coronal eld can indeed
lose the equilibrium condition before the onset of ares in the
realistic boundary condition on the photosphere.
Since magnetic helicity, which is a measure of the linkage
between magnetic uxes, is a key quantity for stability and
equilibrium in various MHD systems (Brown et al. 1999), it
is likely that magnetic helicity is relevant to the triggering
mechanism of solar ares. When the current-free eld B
0
is
adopted as the reference eld, the gauge-invariant relative
helicity of magnetic eld B can be described by
H
R
(B)
_
V
(A A
0
) = (B B
0
)dV. 1
where B and B
0
have a common boundary condition for the
normal component and A and A
0
are the vector potentials of
B and B
0
, respectively (Berger & Field 1984). By denition,
H
R
must vanish when the magnetic eld B is relaxed to the
current-free eld B
0
. This implies that the relative helicity
contained in the coronal eld has to be reduced when a solar
are liberates the magnetic free energy that is dened as the
excess from the current-free eld energy.
However, magnetic helicity is a topological invariant in
perfectly conducting media (Woltjer 1958), so it can hardly
change in a high-temperature plasma such as the solar corona
(Taylor 1986). Even magnetic reconnection cannot expedite
the decay of magnetic helicity, but can only transfer it from
one ux system to another. Hence, as a trigger mechanism of
ares a great deal of attention has been paid to magnetic re-
connection, which expels the excess helicity out of the solar
corona by detaching the magnetic eld lines from the solar
surface (Mikic et al. 1988; Biskamp & Welter 1989; Mikic &
Linker 1994; Kusano et al. 1995; Birn et al. 2000; Amari et al.
2003; Roussev et al. 2003). These conventional models were
based on the idea that solar ares should occur after too much
537
The Astrophysical Journal, 610:537549, 2004 July 20
# 2004. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
helicity is injected into the coronal eld (Priest & Forbes
2000).
Recently, Kusano et al. (2002) developed a new method-
ology that enables the measurement of magnetic helicity ux
through the photosphere. They used an induction equation
and local correlation tracking to infer the electric eld on
the photosphere from vector magnetograms. This technique
allows us to accurately evaluate the rate of magnetic helicity
injection due to ux emergence and shearing motions. Using
this new technique, we have recently analyzed the relationship
between helicity injection and the onset of ares that occurred
in NOAA Active Region 8100 (Yokoyama et al. 2003). How-
ever, a clear correlation between the amplitude of helicity
injection and the onset of ares was not found. This is a
negative result for the simple model in which the overinjection
of magnetic helicity can trigger solar ares and suggests that
some properties beyond the amount of magnetic helicity could
be relevant to the onset of ares.
On the other hand, our measurement of magnetic helicity
also revealed that the structure of helicity injection in active
regions is highly complicated in both time and space and that
even the sign of the helicity injection often changes within a
single active region (Kusano et al. 2002; Yokoyama et al.
2003). This new nding suggested another possibility for re-
ducing magnetic helicity in the coronal plasma. Magnetic
helicity is a quantity having either a positive or a negative
sign, which represents the right-handed linkage or the left-
handed linkage of magnetic uxes, respectively. This means
that if positive and negative helicities coexist in a single do-
main, magnetic reconnection can cancel magnetic helicity by
merging ux systems of opposite helicities. If it does, the
reconnected eld may relax toward a helicity-free state, and
thus the free energy corresponding to magnetic helicity of
mixed signs should be released.
Magnetic helicity in the solar corona is closely related to
magnetic shear, which is usually dened as the parallel com-
ponent of a transverse magnetic eld along the magnetic
neutral line on the solar surface. The topological relationship
between magnetic helicity and magnetic shear is easily un-
derstood in a simple magnetic arcade model that is symmetric
along the magnetic neutral line, as illustrated in Figure 1. When
the x-axis is taken along the magnetic neutral line, the mag-
netic eld can be described by
B B
x
e
x
:c < e
x
. 2
where e
x
is the unit vector directed to the x-axis and c is the
magnetic ux through the shaded ribbon S
1
of a unit length
along the x-coordinate. Since the isosurface of c corresponds
to the magnetic arcade on which the eld vector is tangent, the
axial magnetic ux through the cross section S
2
,
(c)
_
S
2
B
x
dy dz. 3
is dened as a function of c. In this case, as explained in the
Appendix, the magnetic helicity density h for unit ux can be
dened on the surface c, and it is given by the sum of the two
uxes,
h(c) sc . 4
where s d,dc reects the shearing displacement between
the eld line footpoints along the neutral line. Equations (3)
and (4) indicate that the axial magnetic eld B
x
, which cor-
responds to the magnetic shear, is a principal ingredient for
magnetic helicity. If the axial eld is reversed in the vicinity of
the magnetic neutral line, the sign of the helicity density h(c)
must also be changed between the central region and the outer
region of the arcade because the signs of and s are deter-
mined by B
x
.
In fact, our recent analyses of the magnetic helicity in-
jection activity and the sheared magnetic eld structure in
are-productive active regions indicated a tendency that the
coexistence of the positive and negative magnetic shear could
be associated with solar ares (Yokoyama et al. 2003). Kusano
et al. (2003a) also detected in NOAA Active Regions 9026 and
9077 that the intensive injection of magnetic helicity of mixed
signs was seen prior to the X-class are events in the GOES
classication. Furthermore, our preliminary simulation indi-
cated that magnetic reconnection indeed takes place on the
shear inversion layer, when the arcade feet are twisted into the
opposite sense, compared to the preloaded shear (Kusano et al.
2003b). These results suggest that shear reversal might be re-
lated to the trigger process of solar ares.
The basic idea of reconnection between the reversed-shear
elds is also consistent with simulations by Linton et al.
(2001), who showed that the collision between counterhelicity
ux tubes oriented in opposite directions is the most dynamic
of the possible congurations of the loop-loop interaction.
Also, Mok et al. (2001) studied the process in which a pre-
existing magnetic loop collides with an emerging loop of
opposite helicity and showed that magnetic reconnection be-
tween the counterhelicity loops may explain the energy re-
lease, at least in small ares.
The objective of this paper is to examine the hypothesis
that shear reversal in the coronal magnetic eld can cause
the onset of solar ares. In order to achieve this purpose, we
study the detailed dynamics of the shear reversal process in
the magnetic arcade, based on three-dimensional numerical
simulations.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. The numer-
ical model and the simulation results are described in xx 2 and
3, respectively. Based on the simulation results, we propose a
Fig. 1.Schematic illustration of the magnetic arcade system.
KUSANO ET AL. 538 Vol. 610
new trigger model for solar ares in x 4, and important con-
clusions and remaining problems are summarized in x 5.
2. NUMERICAL MODEL
The simulation domain spans a rectangular box, 0 < x <
L
x
, 0 < y < L
y
, and 0 < z < L
z
, in which L
x
: L
y
: L
z
1:1:10
and the bottom plane (z 0) corresponds to the solar surface.
The boundary condition of the vertical magnetic eld on the
bottom is given by
B
z
( y) B
0
sin k( y L
y
,2).
where k 3,L
y
, so that the magnetic neutral line is located
along the central line, y L
y
,2. Unlike the previous model
(Kusano 2002), the lateral boundaries ( y 0 and L
y
) act as
rigid walls on which the normal component of velocity and
that of the magnetic eld vanish. The rigid-wall condition
works for the stabilization of the instability, which was seen in
the previous simulations (Mikic et al. 1988; Kusano 2002).
On the other hand, the periodic condition is still applied along
the magnetic neutral line.
The basic equations consist of
0V
0t
V = :V J < B i :
2
V. 5
0B
0t
: < (V < B jJ). 6
and J : < B, in which the pressure gradient force and the
density variation are neglected on the basis of the approxi-
mation that the plasma u is generally very small in the solar
corona (Mok et al. 2001; Kusano 2002). The calculation is
carried out using nondimensional units in which length,
velocity, and time are normalized by L
y
, V
A
(Alfven speed
dened by B
0
), and L
y
,V
A
, respectively.
The initial state is composed of the linear force-free eld
B
lAf
, which is the solution of the force-free equation : <
B
lAf
cB
lAf
and the small perturbations (v. b). The linear
force-free eld B
lAf
is described by
B
lAf
B
0
c
k
cos k y
L
y
2
_ _

K
k
cos k y
L
y
2
_ _
sin k y
L
y
2
_ _
_

_
_

_
exp Kz .
where K (k
2
c
2
)
1,2
. The value of c is set to 9.2,L
y
in our
calculations, so that the initial magnetic eld has positive
helicity
H
B
2
0
L
x
L
y
2k
2
K
c.
Figure 2 clearly shows that the initial eld lines are uniformly
sheared in the right-handed sense. The color shading in this
gure represents the axial magnetic eld B
x
, which generates
magnetic helicity (eq. [4]). The vertical distribution of c, , h,
and s of the linear force-free eld above the neutral line is
plotted in Figure 3a.
Fig. 2.Three-dimensional structure of the magnetic eld lines in the
initial state. Color shading on the bottom and the vertical wall represents the
axial magnetic eld B
x
, where red and blue indicate positive and negative
values. The white line and the two black lines on the bottom surface corre-
spond to the magnetic neutral line y L
y
,2 and the periodic boundaries x 0
and L
x
, respectively. The black contour on the vertical wall is an isovalue line
of B
x
. Coordinate axes (x. y. z) are represented by black arrows at the origin.
Fig. 3.Vertical distribution of helicity density h, uxes c and , and
shearing displacement s above the neutral line (a) for the initial state and
(b) for the two-dimensional simulation result at t 10.
TRIGGER MECHANISM OF SOLAR FLARES 539 No. 1, 2004
The perturbation (v. b), which is added to seed the
symmetry-breaking instability, is given by superposition of
the 20 Fourier modes with random phases,
(v. b) Re

20
m1
( v
m
.

b
m
) exp 2i(x,L
x
R
m
). 7
where R
m
is a random number between 0 and 1. The complex
function ( v
m
.

b
m
) is given by a linear eigenfunction for the
quasi-equilibrium state, which is derived by a two-dimensional
simulation. The details of the two-dimensional simulation and
the linear stability analyses will be explained in the following
section.
The simulation is initiated by applying a slow shear motion
V
x
( y) V
0
sin
y L
y
,2
w
_ _
8
on the vicinity of the magnetic neutral line (L
y
,2 w <
y < L
y
,2 w), where w 0.1L
y
and V
0
0.05V
A
. The pho-
tospheric motion (eq. [8]) reverses the magnetic shear and
constantly supplies the negative magnetic helicity into the
coronal region. As a result of that, the shear inversion layer,
where the sign of B
x
is reversed, will be generated on the ux
surface rooted on y L
y
,2 w. Here we should note that the
boundary motion is still sub-Alfvenic, although the value of
V
0
is about 2 orders of magnitude larger than the typical
motion on the solar surface.
The resistivity j is modeled by
j
j
0
J < J
c
.
j
0
j
1
J J
c
J
c
_ _
2
J ! J
c
.
_

_
9
where J jJj, j
0
10
5
, j
1
5 ; 10
4
, and J
c
3 ; 10
2
in
nondimensional units. The anomalous resistivity (eq. [9]) has
the effect of enhancing the reconnection rate by localizing the
diffusion region (Yokoyama & Shibata 1994; Biskamp &
Schwarz 2001). The values of j
0
and j
1
are decided from a
policy that the resistivity should be small, as long as the
current sheet at the reconnection point can be well resolved
numerically, because the solar corona is a much less diffusive
plasma. The nondimensional viscosity i is given by a constant
5 ; 10
4
.
The calculation was carried out using the nite-difference
scheme. The grid number included in the early phase is
256 ; 256 ; 512 for each dimension (x, y, and z), and it is
increased to 256 ; 256 ; 1024 before the eruptive phase starts.
Since in our simulation the dynamics rst arise on the shear
inversion layer, the grid points are highly concentrated near
the center ( y L
y
,2) in the lower portion (z < z
0
), in which
the nest grid sizes are x 3.9 ; 10
3
, y 1.0 ; 10
3
,
and z 1.0 ; 10
3
. The height of the high-resolution region
z
0
is 0.4L
y
with the small grid set (256 ; 256 ; 512) and it is
extended to 0.8L
y
with the large grid set (256 ; 256 ; 1024).
The remapping of grid points was carried out using the spline
interpolation technique. The spatial differential is approxi-
mated by the second-order accuracy nite difference using
three grid point stencils, and the temporal integration was
carried out using the Runge-Kutta-Gill method of fourth-order
accuracy.
3. SIMULATION RESULTS
3.1. Two-dimensional Simulation and Linear Stability
In order to clarify the difference of dimensionality, a two-
dimensional simulation, in which the variation along the
magnetic neutral line is inhibited, i.e., 0,0x 0, was also
performed. Figure 4 represents the eld line structure in the
two-dimensional simulation. Here it is clearly seen that the
magnetic shear above the magnetic neutral line is reversed to
the left-handed sense and that the reversed-shear region (blue
shadinq), where B
x
<0, appears in the center of the arcade.
Note that on the shear inversion layer where the axial eld
Fig. 4.Field line structure in the two-dimensional simulation at t 10 and 24. The format is the same as in Fig. 2.
KUSANO ET AL. 540 Vol. 610
B
x
0, the magnetic shear is steeply changed and thus the
intense electric current ows mainly in the y-z plane. In
Figure 3b the vertical distribution of the helicity density h in
the reversed-shear state derived by the two-dimensional sim-
ulation at t 10 is plotted with the uxes c and and the
shearing displacement s. We can see that the reversal of shear s
leads to the reversal of magnetic helicity density h in the central
region of the magnetic arcade.
As shown by dotted line in Figure 5, magnetic energy in
the two-dimensional simulation varies in a continuous manner
without any eruptive process. This implies that the shear re-
versal process is stable against two-dimensional modes, unlike
the simple shearing process studied in previous simulations
(Mikic et al. 1988; Biskamp & Welter 1989; Mikic & Linker
1994).
Here let us examine the stability of the reversed-shear ar-
cade against the three-dimensional mode in terms of the nu-
merical method developed by Kusano & Nishikawa (1996).
The linearized equations (5) and (6) are given by
0 v
m
0t

j
m
< B
0
J
0
<

b
m
i :
2
v
m
. 10
0

b
m
0t
: < ( v
m
< B
0
j
0

j
m
). 11
J
0
: < B
0
. 12

j
m
: <

b
m
. 13
where B
0
is the zeroth-order magnetic eld and v
m
and

b
m
are
the rst-order variables of the mth Fourier mode,
( v
m
.

b
m
) L
1
x
_
L
x
0
(V. B) exp 2mi
x
L
x
_ _
dx.
Applying the two-dimensional simulation result to B
0
,
equations (10)(13) were numerically solved as an initial-
value problem, until the solution converged to the eigen-
function corresponding to the maximum growth rate.
Figure 6a shows the linear growth rate of the reversed-shear
arcade obtained in the two-dimensional simulation at t 5.8
as a function of the Fourier mode number m. It clearly indi-
cates that the magnetic arcade is unstable against a wide range
of the Fourier modes for m ! 4, in which m 9 is most un-
stable. Figure 6b represents the temporal variation of the
growth rate, which corresponds to the evolution of B
0
in the
two-dimensional simulation, for the typical mode (m 8). By
comparing this with the history of the axial magnetic eld B
x
at the magnetic neutral line shown in Figure 6d, we can easily
see that the mode is destabilized after the sign of the axial eld
is switched to negative. This means that the instability arises
as a consequence of the shear reversal.
The dependency of the growth rate on the resistivity j
0
is
also calculated, and the results shown in Figure 6c indicate
that the growth rate for the typical mode (m 8) is roughly
proportional to j
0.5
0
. This is consistent with the scaling of
the resistive-tearing mode instability for the most unstable
wavenumber (Furth et al. 1963). Through these results, we
here conclude that the electric current owing on the shear
inversion layer would be destabilized against the resistive-
tearing mode when the magnetic shear is strongly reversed.
3.2. Three-dimensional Simulation
Now let us move on to the three-dimensional problem. In
Figure 5a we can see that the evolution of magnetic energy in
the three-dimensional simulation greatly differs from the two-
dimensional result after t 8. Furthermore, Figure 5c indi-
cates that the kinetic energy of the large-scale mode (m 0)
starts to increase at t 32. Based on these results, we classify
the whole history of the three-dimensional simulation into the
following three phases: (1) the growing phase (t <8), (2) the
relaxation phase (8 <t <32), and (3) the eruptive phase
(32 < t). We now describe the details of each phase.
1. Growinq phase.Figure 7 represents the evolution of
magnetic energy for several Fourier modes,
E
M
(m)
_
L
z
0
_
L
y
0

b
m

2
dy dz.
on a logarithmic scale. We can see here that the instabilities
predicted by the linear analyses in the previous subsection
indeed appear after the axial eld is dynamically reversed
(t 2.5). The modes m 7 and 8, which are close to the most
unstable mode in the linear analyses (see Fig. 6a), quickly
grow even in the nonlinear calculation.


Fig. 5.Temporal variation of (a) the total magnetic energy, (b) the
magnetic energy of the several Fourier modes, and (c) the kinetic energy of
the mean mode (m 0) and the undulating mode (m 0) in the three-
dimensional simulation. The parameter m denotes the Fourier mode number
for the x-coordinate, and the inequality sign indicates the sum of the specied
modes. The two-dimensional simulation result is also represented by dashed
line in (a). The dotted lines correspond to the transition times between
growing, relaxation, and eruptive phases.
TRIGGER MECHANISM OF SOLAR FLARES 541 No. 1, 2004
After t 7, however, the growth rate of each mode, which
corresponds to the slope of each curve in Figure 7, gradually
increases with time, and even the linearly stable modes
(m 1 3) start to grow. This is evidence that the nonlinear
effect becomes predominant as a result of signicant ampli-
cation of the instabilities.
Figure 8 represents the distribution of the axial magnetic
eld B
x
(color shadinq) and the intensity of electric currents
(red contours) on the vertical plane above the magnetic neutral
line ( y 0). We can see in Figure 8a that the electric currents
on the shear inversion layer, in which B
x
0, are fragmented
into several current sheets. This is a result of the resistive-
tearing mode instability. Note that in Figure 8a, although the
linear eigenmode of the instability is purely periodic along the
x-axis, the current sheet labeled C1 is subject to more in-
tensive thinning compared to the others. This is due to the
excitation of the long-wavelength modes (m 1 and 2) and a
manifestation of the nonlinear effect seen in Figure 7.
2. Relaxation phase.After the growing phase, the total
magnetic energy decreases while the magnetic energy of the
undulating components (m0) are quickly amplied, as seen
in Figures 5a and 5b. This is a typical feature of the MHD
relaxation process. In fact, Figure 9 shows that the oppositely
sheared magnetic eld lines are reconnected at the current
sheet on the shear inversion layer, which corresponds to C1 in
Figure 8a. In Figure 10, the shearing displacement s for each
of the eld lines depicted in Figure 9b is plotted as a function
of the height where the lines cross the vertical plane y 0.
Here the two open circles clearly represent that the footpoint
displacement is dramatically reduced after reconnection, so that
nearly shear-free eld lines are created through reconnection.
Fig. 6.Results of the linear stability analyses for the quasi equilibria obtained with the two-dimensional simulation. (a) The linear growth rate at t 5.8 for
j
0
10
5
is plotted as a function of the Fourier mode number m. (b) Time variation of the linear growth rate for m 8 and j
0
10
5
. (c) The resistivity
dependency of the linear growth rate for m 8 at t 5.8 is plotted on logarithmic scales. The dashed line indicates the scaling proportional to j
0.5
0
. (d) The time
variation of B
x
on the magnetic neutral line in the two-dimensional simulation.

Fig. 7.Magnetic energy variation in the three-dimensional simulation for
the Fourier modes m 110.
KUSANO ET AL. 542 Vol. 610
The structural evolution of the eld lines indicates that mag-
netic reconnection leads to the annihilation of magnetic shear
through merging of the oppositely sheared uxes. The same
type of reconnection occurs at several current sheets on the
shear inversion layer. The magnetic reconnection creates hor-
izontal jets out of each current sheet by the slingshot effect and
drives the MHD turbulence.
A characteristic feature in this phase is mode conversion
toward large-scale structures. Figure 5b indicates that the mag-
netic energy is transported from the higher mode (m3) to the
lower mode (m 1). This can be understood as an inverse
cascade of magnetic energy. Actually, it is seen in Figures 8b
(t 12.4) to 8e (t 33.0) that the undulation of the shear in-
version surface gradually changes from the short-wavelength
Fig. 8.Variation of the magnetic eld B
x
(color scale) and the electric current density jJj (red contours) on the x-z plane above the magnetic neutral line in the
three-dimensional simulation.
TRIGGER MECHANISM OF SOLAR FLARES 543 No. 1, 2004
mode to the longer wavelength mode. As a result, the cancel-
lation between the positive and negative axial eld B
x
prefer-
entially proceeds in a particular region (x 0.4 $ 0.6), as seen
in Figure 8d.
In order to evaluate the reconnection activity, the minimum
value of the absolute ux across the y-z plane, which is dened
by
F(t) min
x
_
L
z
0
_
L
y
0
B
x
(t; x. y. z) j jdy dz.
is calculated. If the positive and negative B
x
are canceled by
reconnection, we may detect this as a notable decrease of F.
In Figure 11 it is seen that the absolute ux of the two-
dimensional simulation constantly increases, after the eld
lines are completely reversed at t 5. This means that the
eld reversal caused by the photospheric shear motion may
overcome the resistive diffusion. On the other hand, the ab-
solute ux of the three-dimensional simulation intermittently
decreases after t 8. Each stepwise decrease corresponds to
magnetic reconnection, which proceeds on the shear inversion
layer as explained above.
3. Eruptive phase.In Figure 5c we can see that a new
phase starts at t 32 in which the kinetic energy
E
K
(m)
_
L
z
0
_
L
y
0
v
m
j j
2
dy dz
Fig. 9.Three-dimensional structure of the eld lines (a) before (t 8.47) and (b) after (t 8.79) reconnection on the shear inversion layer in the three-
dimensional simulation. Converging ows into the reconnection point are illustrated by thick arrows in (a). Red strings in (b) indicate typical eld lines subjected to
reconnection. Color shading on the bottom plane represents B
x
, the same as in Fig. 2.
Fig. 10.Geometrical relation for the eld lines plotted in Fig. 9b. The
abscissa (z) and the ordinate (s) indicate the z-coordinate, at which the lines
intersect the vertical plane ( y 0), and the x-coordinate displacement between
the two footpoints of each line, respectively. The two open circles correspond
to the reconnected eld lines (Fig. 9b, red strinqs), and the lled circles are for
the reversed-shear eld, which is not yet subject to reconnection.
Fig. 11.Evolution of the absolute ux F in the two-dimensional and
three-dimensional simulations. The dotted line indicates the time when the
eruptive phase starts.
KUSANO ET AL. 544 Vol. 610
of the m 0 component remarkably increases. This is a sig-
nature that the magnetic arcade nally erupts through the
nonlinear activity in the relaxation phase.
Figures 12a and 12b represent the three-dimensional struc-
ture of the magnetic eld lines at t 32.4. We can see that
the positively sheared eld lines (blue lines) contact each
other just above the shear inversion layer. The vertical current
sheet, which is labeled C2 in Figure 8e, is newly generated
between these eld lines and works as a diffusion region for
magnetic reconnection. The vertical magnetic eld (B
z
) and
the horizontal velocity (V
y
) are mainly involved in this new
reconnection process. Magnetic reconnection at the current
sheet C2 creates a weakly sheared eld and a highly sheared
eld below and above the reconnection point, respectively, as
shown by the red lines in Figures 12a and 12b. Therefore, this
type of reconnection plays a role in transferring positively
sheared ux from below to above the reconnection point.
The highly sheared eld above the reconnection point
accelerates the plasma upward by the slingshot effect, as il-
lustrated by the upward arrow in Figure 12b, and a high-speed
up-welling jet is generated. The green surface of this gure
represents the region where V
z
is larger than 0.1V
A
. The plasma
in this region is accelerated by up to 36% of the local Alfven
speed.
Fig. 12.Three-dimensional structure of the magnetic eld lines in the eruptive phase of the three-dimensional simulation. The plot format is the same as in
Fig. 2, and (a), (c), and (d) are snapshots at t 32.4, 37.2, and 44.7, respectively; (b) is the zoom-in view of the region bounded by the black square in (a). Typical
plasma ows are illustrated by thick arrows. The green surface in (b) represents an isovalue surface, on which V
z
0.1V
A
.
TRIGGER MECHANISM OF SOLAR FLARES 545 No. 1, 2004
On the other hand, the downward ow from the reconnec-
tion region C2 collides with the shear inversion layer. The
collision of the ow may further strengthen the original re-
connection with the negatively sheared eld lines (corre-
sponding to gray lines in Fig. 12b) at the current sheet C1 in
Figure 8e. Note that both reconnections at C1 and C2 tend to
reduce magnetic shear around the shear inversion layer, al-
though the rst and second reconnections play different roles,
namely, the annihilation of the sheared eld and the transfer of
the sheared eld, respectively.
Finally, while the up-welling ow lifts up the magnetic
arcade, the current sheet C2 extends along the x-coordinate,
and then the whole arcade is subject to reconnection, which
launches a large-scale plasmoid, as seen in Figures 12c12d.
Once this eruption starts, the growth of kinetic energy does
not stop until the calculation is terminated. This could be
an indication of the fact that the system reaches a loss-of-
equilibrium state.
4. DISCUSSION: REVERSED-SHEAR FLARE MODEL
In the previous section, it was clearly demonstrated by the
numerical simulations that the reversal of magnetic shear may
cause large-scale eruption of the magnetic arcade through a
series of magnetic reconnections. Based on the results, here
we propose a new model for the triggering mechanism of solar
ares.
Our model predicts that the are process should be initiated
at some point on the shear inversion layer where the sign of
magnetic shear is steeply changed in an active region. Let us
consider a reversed-shear system in which the left-handed
axial eld B

a
is embedded in the magnetic arcade with the
right-handed axial eld B

a
, as illustrated in Figure 13a. When
Fig. 13.Illustration of the shear annihilation process. (ad) Time sequence seen as a projection onto the cross section of the magnetic arcade. The thin lines
with arrows and the thick lines (C1 and C2) correspond to the magnetic eld lines and the current sheets, respectively. The large arrows depict typical plasma
ows.
KUSANO ET AL. 546 Vol. 610
the direction of the axial eld is steeply switched, an intensive
current sheet C1 appears on the shear inversion layer, and it
could be destabilized against the resistive-tearing mode in-
stability. The growth of the instability stimulates the vertically
stagnating ow and may drive magnetic reconnection between
B

a
and B

a
.
Here note that the criterion of the tearing-mode instability is
mainly decided by the gradient of the current density. There-
fore, the local structure of magnetic shear, rather than the total
amount of magnetic helicity, could be more important as a
trigger for the process considered here. If the tearing insta-
bility grows sufciently on the shear inversion layer, recon-
nection may cancel the right-handed and left-handed magnetic
uxes near the reconnection point, as schematically illustrated
by the open ellipsoid in Figure 13b. The ux cancellation was
clearly seen in our calculations (Fig. 11).
In the sheared-arcade system, the MHD equilibrium can
be retained by a balance between the magnetic pressure of
the axial eld and the tension force of the magnetic loop.
Therefore, ux cancellation erodes the equilibrium condition
near the reconnection point, and nally the magnetic arcade
collapses inward (see Fig. 13c). As a result, the vertical cur-
rent sheet C2 is generated, and a second reconnection, which
leads to the arcade eruption, will be triggered (see Fig. 13d).
This is a sort of the chain reaction in which reconnection
causes another reconnection. Furthermore, since the down-
ward outow from the second reconnection point (C2) works
as the inow into the rst reconnection point (C1), the two
reconnections mutually excite each other, at least immediately
after the second reconnection starts. It is likely that the mutual
excitation of the two reconnections, which appears only in the
transition process from the relaxation phase to the eruptive
phase, may cause the impulsive feature in solar ares.
As the eruptive phase proceeds, the reconnection point on
the vertical current sheet (C2) moves upward away from the
shear inversion, and the mutual relation of the two recon-
nections should be weakened. However, the second recon-
nection between the originally sheared loops (see Fig. 12c)
can be self-sustained as the reconnection region extends along
the arcade axis. Finally, the whole arcade is subject to re-
connection, and a detached ux tube (plasmoid) is launched
out of the coronal region (see Fig. 12d). Once the detached
ux rope is formed, the basic mechanism of the plasmoid
ejection can be explained by conventional loss-of-equilibrium
theory (Priest & Forbes 1990; Forbes & Priest 1995), although
the trigger mechanism is different from the previous models.
Note also that, in our model, the ux rope does not nec-
essarily need to preexist for the triggering of an eruption,
unlike in the previous models (Priest & Forbes 1990; Forbes
& Priest 1995; Chen & Shibata 2000). Furthermore, even the
photospheric converging ow into the magnetic neutral line,
which was introduced to drive reconnection in the models by
Birn et al. (2000), Amari & Luciani (2000), and Amari et al.
(2003), is not necessary, because the annihilation of the re-
versed shear can spontaneously generate the converging ow
into the shear inversion layer. Theoretically speaking, the
double-reconnection process can be interpreted as a transition
mechanism in which the resistive instability (tearing mode)
gives rise to the loss-of-equilibrium process through ux
cancellation.
According to our model, the preare phase, which may
correspond to the phases before the eruption, could be con-
trolled by the competition between the shear reversal and the
resistive-tearing mode instability. If the shear reversal takes
place much more slowly than the instability, the coronal eld
can adjust the change of boundary condition without devel-
oping a shear inversion layer, and thus the instability may not
grow sufciently. Actually, in the numerical simulation the
growth time of the initial-phase instability is as long as the
typical time of the shear reversal, t
shear
w,V
0
.
For practical parameters (temperature T 10
6
K and
plasma density n 10
15
m
3
), the growth time of the most
unstable tearing mode t
tearing
(t
A
t
j
)
0.5
is given by 4 ;
10
5
(c
3
,B)
0.5
(s) for a current sheet of width c (m) and
magnetic eld B (T), where t
A
and t
j
are the Alfven transit
time and the resistive diffusion time, respectively. If t
tearing
is
comparable to the observed timescale of the helicity injection
(10
4
s; Kusano et al. 2002), c is estimated to be 100 to 200 km
for B 10
2
to 10
1
T. This result suggests that the narrow
current sheet, which can be observed as a discontinuity of the
horizontal magnetic eld by vector magnetographs, is a can-
didate region for solar ares, because the estimated width is 1
order of magnitude smaller than the resolution of the current
vector magnetographs.
5. SUMMARY
In this paper, using numerical simulations we have dem-
onstrated that shear reversal in the coronal magnetic eld may
cause a large-scale eruption of a magnetic arcade and pro-
posed a new model of the solar are triggering mechanism.
The physical process is explained by the following scenario.
First, the resistive-tearing mode instability grows on the shear
inversion layer if the magnetic shear is steeply reversed.
Second, magnetic reconnection driven by the tearing-mode
instability cancels the antiparallel magnetic uxes along the
magnetic neutral line. Third, the ux cancellation is followed
by collapse of the magnetic arcade into the reconnection point,
and then the vertical current sheet is generated. Fourth, a
second reconnection is triggered on the new current sheet and
drives the up-welling jet. Finally, the arcade system reaches a
loss-of-equilibrium state, and the whole magnetic arcade
erupts upward.
These processes are understood as a chain reaction in which
the resistive MHD instability (tearing mode) brings about loss-
of-equilibrium dynamics (eruption). Even though the growth
rate of the original instability is much slower than the MHD
timescale, the mutual excitation of the two different kinds of
magnetic reconnection may well explain the explosive prop-
erty of are onset.
The reversed-shear are model is still based on the hy-
pothesis that there is a steep gradient of magnetic shear near
the magnetic neutral line. However, the careful analyses of the
vector magnetogram indicated that there indeed was a region
where the transverse magnetic eld steeply varied in an active
region (Solanki et al. 2003). Our recent analyses reveal that
the position of Hc emission by the ares in NOAA Active
Region 8100 corresponded well to the shear inversion line,
which was seen as the region where the parallel component of
the nonpotential magnetic eld along the vector potential A
0
is
sharply reversed (Yokoyama et al. 2003). Also, the correlation
analyses of TRACE 1600 8 images (Handy et al. 1999) and
vector magnetograms indicate that the initial brightening in
the preare phase was located along the shear inversion line
(H. Miike et al. 2003, private communication). Furthermore,
the statistical analyses of vector magnetograms for multiple
active regions suggest that there is a positive correlation
between the length of the shear inversion layer and the soft
X-ray activity (T. Maeshiro et al. 2004, in preparation). These
TRIGGER MECHANISM OF SOLAR FLARES 547 No. 1, 2004
results strongly support the validity of the reversed-shear are
model.
Flare kernels observed in X-ray, UV, and optical wave-
lengths are believed to be the footpoints of loops in which the
energy has been released probably through reconnection
processes. Tanaka (1987) studied the kernels observed in
the He D3 line and found that in the initial phase of a are, the
footpoints showed a sheared conguration with respect to the
magnetic neutral line and moved in a very complex manner.
Hard X-ray footpoints observed by the Yohkoh hard X-ray
telescope (Kosugi et al. 1991) were found to separate in an-
tiparallel directions with respect to the neutral line in some
ares (Sakao et al. 2000). Our new model can account for such
nonstandard motions of the footpoints.
On the other hand, several open problems still remain for
the proof of the new model. For instance, because of 180

ambiguity in the polarization measurements, uncertainty may

exist in the observation of the shear inversion layers. One way
to overcome the problem will be given by continuous obser-
vation of the vector magnetic eld, which is not interrupted
even by the night period. If we can detect the whole process of
the shear reversal, we may determine the magnetic orientation
from the temporal continuity. For that, a global network ob-
servation of the vector magnetic eld should be organized.
Also, the vector magnetograph and the Stokes polarimeter,
with which the Solar-B satellite (Shimizu 2002) is equipped,
will be powerful tools for this purpose.
The theoretical understanding of the transition process from
the rst reconnection (tearing mode) to the second reconnec-
tion (eruption) is still insufcient, even though it is clearly
demonstrated in our simulation. It is particularly important to
make clear the physical conditions for triggering the second
reconnection in more realistic situation. This problem is related
to the question of how we should dene magnetic shear as well
as shear reversal in a three-dimensional system without any
geometrical symmetry. In order to obtain denitive answers
to these questions, the physical relationship between magnetic
shear distribution and MHD relaxation should be investigated
in more detail. Furthermore, we also have to develop a more
sophisticated theory of three-dimensional reconnection be-
cause multiple reconnection is a three-dimensional phenome-
non in which the horizontal and vertical current sheets form an
inverse-T shaped structure, as seen in Figure 8e.
Finally, we should emphasize the possibility that are-
productive active regions consist of multiple subregions, each
of which are characterized by different magnetic shear. The
annihilation of magnetic shear may arise on the boundary
between different subregions. This process is similar to the
mechanism whereby earthquakes are most frequently pro-
duced on the boundary between different plates. Recently,
Priest et al. (2002) discussed coronal heating as an analogy
of geophysical plate tectonics. Our simulation results imply
that the shear inversion layer could correspond to the plate
boundary and that the steep shear gradient on the solar surface
will be an indicator for predicting the onset of solar ares.
The present work is partially supported by Grants-in-Aid
for Scientic Research from the Japan Society for the Pro-
motion of Science and by the REIMEI Research Resources
of Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.
APPENDIX
MAGNETIC HELICITY IN A LINEAR ARCADE
The relative helicity (eq. [1]) of the domain V is equivalent to the difference between two whole space helicities, including the
external space V
0
, i.e.,
H
R
(B) H(B. B
0
) H(B
0
. B
0
).
where
H(B
1
. B
2
)
_
VV
0
A = BdV.
B
B
1
in V.
B
2
in V
0
.
_
and A : < B. The reference eld B
0
is usually given by the current-free eld : < B
0
0 for convenience. When V and V
0
are
bounded by a plane, if the current-free eld : < B
0
0
0 is used as the common extension B
0
in V
0
and if the Coulomb gauge is
adopted, the reference helicity H(B
0
. B
0
0
) vanishes (Berger & Field 1984). In this case, the relative helicity can be given by
H
R
(B) H(B. B
0
0
).
because H
R
is independent of the gauge B
0
.
If the volume integral is carried out along magnetic ux tubes, which contains innitesimal ux d, then
H(B. B
0
0
)
_ _
VV
0
A = Bdl
d
jBj

_ _
VV
0
A = dl d.
KUSANO ET AL. 548 Vol. 610
where l is the arc-length vector parallel to B and B
0
0
. The equation above indicates that magnetic helicity for unit ux can be dened
on eld lines by
dH
d

_
A = dl. A1
where : = A 0 both in V and V
0
.
If and only if the eld line orbit for B and B
0
0
stays on some restricted region, equation (A1) can work as a local quantity of the
relative helicity. For instance, in the linear arcade system illustrated in Figure 1, the extended eld line periodically turns around on
an isovalue surface c. In this case, one-turn integration of equation (A1) along the eld line A-B-C in Figure 1,
h
_
s
0
A
x
dx
_
(A
y
dy A
z
dz) sc .
can be dened as a function of ux c, and it corresponds to helicity density for unit ux, where s indicates the shearing
displacement between the footpoints (A and B) along the magnetic neutral line.
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