Abstract
It is shown that expressions for the global Lorentz force associated with a flaring active region derived by Fisher et al. (Solar Phys. 277, 59, 2012) can be used to estimate the Lorentz-force changes for strong fields in large structures over photospheric subdomains within active regions. Gary’s (Solar Phys. 203, 71, 2001) model for the stratified solar atmosphere is used to demonstrate that in large-scale structures with typical horizontal magnetic length scale ≫ 300 km and with strong magnetic fields (≥ 1 kG at the τ=1 opacity layer at 5000 Å), the Lorentz force acting on the photosphere may be approximated by a surface integral based on photospheric boundary data alone. These conditions cover many of the sunspot fields and major neutral lines that have been studied using Fisher et al.’s (2012) expressions over the past few years. The method gives a reasonable estimate of flare-related Lorentz-force changes based on photospheric magnetogram observations provided that the Lorentz-force changes associated with the flare have a lasting effect on the observed fields, and they are not immediately erased by post-flare equilibration processes.
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Notes
This figure is updated from Figure 1 of Petrie (2012). In Petrie (2012) the longitude–latitude coordinate system has origin at the center of the remapped HMI magnetogram whereas here the origin corresponds to disk-center. See also http://hmi.stanford.edu/hminuggets/?p=539 .
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Acknowledgements
I thank the referee for helpful comments. This project was prompted by discussions at Leverhulme Flare Seismology Workshop held at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), 9 – 12 September 2013. The author thanks the Leverhulme trust for hospitality during the author’s visit to MSSL, and thanks his fellow participants at the workshop for interesting discussions during and after the meeting.
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Petrie, G.J.D. Estimating Flare-Related Photospheric Lorentz Force Vector Changes Within Active Regions. Sol Phys 289, 3663–3680 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-014-0545-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-014-0545-3