Dear Loops friends,

 

You might be interested in the paper “The Thickness of Current Sheets and Implications for Coronal Heating” just accepted by Frontiers in Physics. It can be downloaded at:

 

https://gcc02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Farxiv.org%2Fabs%2F2307.13825&data=05%7C01%7CJames.A.Klimchuk%40nasa.gov%7C9e6d4ff004574174f2ac08db8e38eb13%7C7005d45845be48ae8140d43da96dd17b%7C0%7C0%7C638260147337829822%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=VysUfUQ3QK1lYZ4dxFK7Zo%2Bm1oJ8MFfuDZyGV6E%2F9PM%3D&reserved=0

 

The paper discusses the conditions for current sheet equilibrium and argues that some quasi-statically evolving current sheets undergoing slow stressing – such as when the coronal magnetic field is subjected to photospheric driving – may reach a critical shear, at which point they lose equilibrium, spontaneously collapse, and reconnect. The critical shear is generally consistent with the heating requirements of solar active regions. This new pathway to reconnection onset may have broad application beyond coronal heating.

 

Cheers,

Jim

 

 

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James A. Klimchuk (he/him)

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Solar Physics Lab, Code 671

Bldg. 21, Rm. 158

Greenbelt, MD  20771

USA

 

Phone:  1-301-286-9060

Fax:      1-301-286-7194

E-mail:  James.A.Klimchuk@nasa.gov

Homepage:  http://science.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/bio/james.a.klimchuk

 

No endorsement by NASA is implied for any correspondence related to my official role in professional organizations.

 

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