Dear Loop Lovers,

 

     A number of you have expressed interest in a flowchart I showed at the Loops III Workshop that deals with the isothermal/multi-thermal issue, so I am attaching a copy here.  It tries to present the reasoning behind the conclusion that some loops must be multi-thermal (composed of unresolved, impulsively-heated strands at different temperatures).  The boxes with blue type contain questions that can be answered observationally.  Depending on the answers, an isothermal interpretation might be reasonable.  However, if the answers lead to the lower-right corner of the chart, then there is a major inconsistency and therefore something fundamental that we do not understand.

     At the time of the workshop, there was a question of whether the observed over densities can be explained by thermal nonequilibrium (the lack of equilibrium when steady heating is sufficiently highly concentrated near the footpoints).  I can now confirm that it can.  However, whether the other observational properties can also be explained is currently being investigated.

 

Best wishes,

Jim

 

 

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James A. Klimchuk      

Space Science Division 

Naval Research Lab                      

Washington, DC  20375 

USA

klimchuk@nrl.navy.mil

Phone: 202-404-8136

Fax:   202-404-7997

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