High Resolution Simulations of Tearing and Flux-Rope Formation in Active Region Jets

Abstract:

Observations of coronal jets increasingly suggest that local fragmentation and the generation of small-scale structure plays an important role in the dynamics of these events. In the magnetically closed corona, jets most often occur near active regions and are associated with an embedded-bipole topology consisting of a 3D magnetic null point atop a domed fan separatrix surface at the base of a coronal loop. Impulsive reconnection in the vicinity of the null point between the magnetic fluxes inside and outside the dome launches the jet along the loop. Wyper & Pontin 2014 showed that the 3D current layers that facilitate such reconnection are explosively unstable to tearing, generating complex flux-rope structures. Utilizing the adaptive mesh capabilities of the Adaptively Refined Magnetohydrodynamics Solver, we investigate the generation of such fine-scale structure in high-resolution simulations of active-region jets. We observe the formation of multiple flux-rope structures forming across the fan separatrix surface and discuss the photospheric signatures of these flux ropes and the associated local topology change. We also introduce a new way of identifying such flux ropes in the magnetic field, based on structures observed in the magnetic squashing factor calculated on the photosphere. By tracking the position and number of new null points produced by the fragmentation, we also show that the formation of flux ropes can occur away from the main null region on the flanks of the separatrix dome and that the jet curtain has a highly complex magnetic structure. This work was funded through an appointment to the NASA Postdoctoral Program and by NASA's Living With a Star TR&T program.