Abstract
The formation and eruption of active region filaments is supposed to be caused by the increase of a concentrated current embedded in the active region background magnetic field of an active region according to the theory of Van Tend and Kuperus (1978).
The onset of a filament eruption is due to either changes in the background magnetic field or the increase of the filament current intensity. Both processes can be caused by the emergence of new magnetic flux as well as by the motion of the photospheric footpoints of the magnetic field lines. It is shown that if the background field evolves from a potential field to a nearly force-free field the vertical equilibrium of the current filament is not affected, but large forces are generated along the filament axis. This is identified as the cause of filament activation and the increase in filament turbulence during the flare build-up phase. Depending on the evolution of the background field and the current filament, two different scenarios for flare build-up and filament eruption are distinguished.
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This work was done while one of the authors (M.K.) was participating in the CECAM workshop on ‘Physics of Solar Flares” held at Orsay, France, in June 1979.
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Kuperus, M., Van Tend, W. The eruption of active region filaments and its relation to the triggering of a solar flare. Sol Phys 71, 125–139 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00153612
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00153612