Structural properties of the solar flare-producing coronal current system developed in an emerging magnetic flux tube

Abstract

The activity of a magnetic structure formed in the solar corona depends on a coronal current system developed in the structure, which determines how an electric current flows in the corona. To investigate structural properties of the coronal current system responsible for producing a solar flare, we perform magnetohydrodynamic simulation of an emerging magnetic flux tube which forms a coronal magnetic structure. Investigation using fractal dimensional analysis and electric current streamlines reveals that the flare-producing coronal current system relies on a specific coronal current structure of two-dimensional spatiality, which has a sub-region where a nearly anti-parallel magnetic field configuration is spontaneously generated. We discuss the role of this locally generated anti-parallel magnetic field configuration in causing the reconnection of a three-dimensional magnetic field, which is a possible mechanism for producing a flare. We also discuss how the twist of a magnetic flux tube affects structural properties of a coronal current system, showing how much volume current flux is carried into the corona by an emerging flux tube. This gives a way to evaluate the activity of a coronal magnetic structure.