A proxy for horizontal electric currents in the solar photosphere was suggested. For a set of evolving active regions (ARs) observed with {\it Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)} Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) in the high resolution mode, the dissipation spectrum, $k^2E(k)$, and the spatial structure of dissipation, i.e., the Stokes dissipation function $ε(x,y)$, were calculated from the observed $B_z$ component of the magnetic field. These functions allowed us to calculate (a part of) the horizontal electric current density in the photosphere. It was shown that as an active region emerges, large-scale horizontal electric currents are gradually generated and determine a bulk of dissipation. When an active region decays, the large-scale horizontal currents decay faster than the small-scale ones. The density of horizontal currents in active regions is in the range of $<j_h > \sim (0.008 - 0.028)$ A/m$^2$, that is compatible with the density of vertical currents in active regions. We suggest two possible mechanisms for generation of such horizontal currents in the photosphere. One of them is the drift motions of charged particles in the medium of varying plasma pressure gradient in a horizontal plane at the periphery of a sunspot. Such a drift can produce quasi-circular closed horizontal currents around sunspots. Another possibility could be an existence of horizontal axial current inside a highly twisted horizontal magnetic structure laying in the photosphere along the magnetic neutral line. The horizontal currents may contribute significantly to the dynamics of the photosphere/corona coupling, as well as the estimation of non-potentiality of ARs.
The horizontal internetwork magnetic field: numerical simulations in comparison to observations with Hinode
日之出空间天文台的观测结果是,在平静的互联网区域的光球层中发现了主要是水平的磁场。在这里,我们调查现实的数值模拟的太阳表面层相对于水平磁场和计算相应的偏振响应在Fe I 630 nm线对。我们发现一个局部最大值的水平场分量的平均强度在一个高度约500公里的光球,在那里它超过垂直分量的一个因素为2.0或5.6,这取决于初始和边界条件。从合成的斯托克斯配置文件,我们得到一个平均水平场分量,分别是1.6和4.3倍强于垂直分量。这是由于水平场本身的通量密度更强,并且水平场占据的面积更大。我们发现,对流过冲驱逐水平场的上层光球,使坡印亭通量为正的光球,而这个量是负的对流不稳定层下面。
We consider dissipative effects occurring in the optically thick inner parts of the relativistic outflows producing gamma-ray bursts and X-ray flashes, emphasizing specially the Comptonization of the thermal radiation flux that is advected from the base of the outflow. Such dissipative effects --e.g. from magnetic reconnection, neutron decay or shocks -- would boost the energy density of the thermal radiation. The dissipation can lead to pair production, in which case the pairs create an effective photosphere further out than the usual baryonic one. In a slow dissipation scenario, pair creatio…
Solar Winds Driven by Nonlinear Low-Frequency Alfven Waves from the Photosphere : Parametric Study for Fast/Slow Winds and Disappearance of Solar Winds
Small-scale fluctuations of magnetic field and velocity may be responsible for the Stokes asymmetries observed in all photospheric magnetic structures (the MISMA hypothesis). We support the hypothesis showing that atmospheres with optically-thin micro-structure reproduce the polarization of FeI 6301 A and FeI 6302 A observed in a sunspot. Ten thousand spectra were fitted by model MISMAs with two magnetic components interleaved along the line-of-sight. Combining all the fits, we set up a semi-empirical model sunspot characterized by two components with very different magnetic field inclination.…