Evaporation Driven by Thermal Conduction

Advisors: Dana Longcope and Sean Brannon

Fast magnetic reconnection releases energy by shortening magnetic flux tubes rapidly, thereby rapidly compressing the plasma they contain. This compression is rapid enough to be super-sonic and thus generates a shock, the most well-known feature of fast magnetic reconnection. Thermal conduction moving ahead of the propagating shock can drive evaporation from the chromosphere and transition region. The efficiency with which the thermal conduction front drives evaporation will depend, to some extent, on the geometry of the flux tube as it crosses the transition region. Strong constriction, as might occur at the center of a network element, will reduce the energy flux, and possibly reduce the evaporation. On the other hand, an expanding nozzle will accelerate supersonic evaporation which is driven though it. We will use a one-dimensional hydrodynamic code to explore the effect of flux tube geometry on evaporative upflows driven by shock-initiated thermal conduction fronts.