The interplanetary magnetic field near has a characteristic "sector" structure that reflects its polarity relative to the solar direction. Typically we observe large-scale coherence in these directions, with two or four "away" or "towards" sectors per solar rotation, from any platform in deep space and near the ecliptic plane. In a simple picture, this morphology simply reflects the idea that the sources of the interplanetary field lie mainly in or near the Sun, and that the solar-wind flow enforces a radial component in this field. Although defined strictly via the interplanetary field near one AU, recent evidence confirms that this pattern also appears clearly at the level of the photosphere, with signatures including not only the large-scale structures (e.g., the streamers) but also highly concentrated fields such as those found in sunspots and even solar flares. This association with small-scale fields strengthens at the Hale sector boundary, defining the Hale boundary as the one for which the polarity switch matches that of the leading-to-following polarity alternation in the sunspots of a given hemisphere.
Magnetic fields and the occurrence of flares and microflares are strongly concentrated near that portion (the Hale boundary) in each solar hemisphere where the change in magnetic sector polarity is the same as that between leading and following sunspot polarities in active regions.
The heliospheric magnetic field (HMF) is structured into large sectors of positive and negative polarity. The parts of the boundary between these sectors where the change in polarity matches that of the leading-to-following sunspot polarity in that solar hemisphere, are called Hale Sector Boundaries (HSB). We investigate the flare occurrence rate near HSBs and the association between HSBs and active longitudes. Previous work determined the times HSBs were at solar central meridian, using the detection of the HMF sector boundary crossing at the Earth. In addition to this, we use a new approach …
The study of the global structure of the large-scale magnetic field of the Sun is extremely important for creating a theoretical model of the dynamics of the Sun and predictions of the real situation in the helio- and geomagnetosphere. The purpose of the present study was to calculate the differential rotation period of a large-scale photospheric magnetic field, to study its behavior over time and to find out whether there is a sectoral structure of this field along the longitude. However, the choice of the coordinate system in which to search for it is far from unambiguous. This is closely re…
Motivated by the accumulating hints of new sterile neutrino species at the eV scale, we explore the consequences of such an hypothesis on the solar sector phenomenology. After introducing the theoretical formalism needed to describe the MSW conversion of solar neutrinos in the presence of one (or more) sterile neutrino state(s) located "far" from the (nu_1,nu_2) "doublet", we perform a quantitative analysis of the available experimental results, focusing on the electron neutrino mixing. We find that the present data posses a sensitivity to the amplitude of the lepton mixing matrix element U_e4…
Coronal Mass Ejection and Heliospheric Current Sheet Interaction Causing a Long-Duration Magnetic Field Sector Transition
Institute of Physics, University of Graz（格拉茨大学物理研究所）；Department of Physics, University of Helsinki（赫尔辛基大学物理系）；Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Turku（图尔库大学物理与天文学系）；Hvar Observatory, Faculty of Geodesy, University of Zagreb（萨格勒布大学大地测量学院赫瓦尔天文台）
We study the solar emission of light dark sector particles that self-interact strongly enough to self-thermalize. The resulting outflow behaves like a fluid which accelerates under its own thermal pressure to highly relativistic bulk velocities in the solar system. Compared to the ordinary non-interacting scenario, the local outflow has at least $\sim 10^3$ higher number density and correspondingly at least $\sim 10^3$ lower average energy per particle. We show how this generic phenomenon arises in a dark sector comprised of millicharged particles strongly self-interacting via a dark photon. T…
Solar and KamLAND data are in slight tension when interpreted in the standard two-flavor oscillations framework and this may be alleviated allowing for a non-zero value of the mixing angle theta_13. Here we show that, likewise, non-standard flavor-changing interactions (FCI), possibly intervening in the propagation of solar neutrinos, are equally able to alleviate this tension and therefore constitute a potential source of confusion in the determination of theta_13. By performing a full three-flavor analysis of solar and KamLAND data in presence of FCI we provide a quantitative description of …
The release of density structures at the tip of the coronal helmet streamers, likely as a consequence of magnetic reconnection, contributes to the mass flux of the slow solar wind. In situ measurements in the vicinity of the heliospheric plasma sheet of the magnetic field, protons and suprathermal electrons reveal details of the processes at play during the formation of density structures near the Sun. In a previous article, we exploited remote-sensing observations to derive a 3-D picture of the dynamic evolution of a streamer. We found evidence of the recurrent and continual release of dense …
Predicting low-latitude ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC) over the Indian sector under variable space weather conditions using solar wind parameters
Indian Institute of Geomagnetism（印度地磁研究所）；School of Environmental Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University（贾瓦哈拉尔·尼赫鲁大学环境科学学院）
Regularities of formation of coronal holes (CH) at the rising phase of cycle 23 are investigated. The period from 01.01.1997 to 01.03.2000 (Carrington rotations (CRs) 1918-2059) is considered in detail. The evolution of the global magnetic field (GMF) of the Sun from the zonal to the sectorial structure is analyzed. It is shown that the zonal structure is quasi-stable. The sum of zonal harmonics dominated up to CR 1941, although a stable four-sector structure of GMF was formed in 1932. In CRs 1941-1950 the contribution of the zonal and sectorial components becomes approximately equal and from …
The recent launches of Parker Solar Probe (PSP), Solar Orbiter (SO) and BepiColombo, along with several older spacecraft, have provided the opportunity to study the solar wind at multiple latitudes and distances from the Sun simultaneously. We take advantage of this unique spacecraft constellation, along with low solar activity across two solar rotations between May and July 2020, to investigate how the solar wind structure, including the Heliospheric Current Sheet (HCS), varies with latitude. We visualise the sector structure of the inner heliosphere by ballistically mapping the polarity and …
The 3D structure of solar wind and its evolution in time is needed for heliospheric modeling and interpretation of energetic neutral atoms observations. We present a model to retrieve the solar wind structure in heliolatitude and time using all available and complementary data sources. We determine the heliolatitude structure of solar wind speed on a yearly time grid over the past 1.5 solar cycles based on remote-sensing observations of interplanetary scintillations, in situ out-of-ecliptic measurements from Ulysses, and in situ in-ecliptic measurements from the OMNI-2 database. Since the in s…
Motivated by the problem of local solar subsurface magnetic structure, we have used numerical simulation to investigate the propagation of waves through monolithic magnetic flux tubes of different size. A cluster model can be a good approximation to simulate sunspots as well as solar plage regions which are composed of an ensemble of compactly packed thin flux tubes. Simulations of this type is a powerful tool to probe the structure and the dynamic of various solar features which are related directly to solar magnetic field activity.
We present the complete history of structure formation in a simple dissipative dark-sector model. The model has only two particles: a dark electron, which is a subdominant component of dark matter, and a dark photon. Dark-electron perturbations grow from primordial overdensities, become non-linear, and form dense dark galaxies. Bremsstrahlung cooling leads to fragmentation of the dark-electron halos into clumps that vary in size from a few to millions of solar masses, depending on the particle model parameters. In particular, we show that asymmetric dark stars and black holes form within the M…
The misalignment of the solar rotation axis and the magnetic axis of the Sun produces a periodic reversal of the Parker spiral magnetic field and the sectored solar wind. The compression of the sectors is expected to lead to reconnection in the heliosheath (HS). We present particle-in-cell simulations of the sectored HS that reflect the plasma environment along the Voyager 1 and 2 trajectories, specifically including unequal positive and negative azimuthal magnetic flux as seen in the Voyager data \citep{Burlaga03}. Reconnection proceeds on individual current sheets until islands on adjacent c…
