Collaborative Proposal B_NPI & approaches for improving NLFFF initial & boundary Conditions
National Science Foundation
Solar, Heliospheric, and INterplanetary Environment Program
Non PSI Personnel: Brian Welsch (PI, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay)
External Partners
- University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
Project Description
We propose to to address the question: Why do some flux ropes erupt and why do some collapse? Eruption and collapse are both examples of an instability, but with different outcomes. Do these different outcomes reflect the work of different instability mechanisms (kink versus torus instability), or is it the same mechanism playing out in different topological environments? The answer is important to understanding the basic science of solar eruptions and also has potential implications for the prediction of such events. As stated, we plan to address only a subset of the goals of the original project.
The goals that we will address are:
1. “What is the relevance of HFT vs. bald-patch configurations for the triggering of eruptions?”
2. “How can failed eruptions without signs of writhing (i.e., kink-stable cases) be understood in the framework of the torus instability?”
3. “How does the reconnection differ between the kink- and torus-instability-driven failed eruptions and from the standard flare model for ejective evolution in different topologies? ”
4. “How do eruptions originating under NPs [Null Points] differ from the standard model of eruptive flares?”