Magnetic Field Topology in Prominences

Abstract

We present a study of the magnetic field lines of a prominence using MHD and thermodynamic/hydrodynamic (TH) models. Previous modeling of prominences has tended to emphasize either magnetic field modeling or TH modeling in isolation. In this paper, we combine these approaches to model a long-lived filament observed in 1996 August-September. In our new approach, we (1) use magnetograms to prescribe the boundary conditions for the magnetic flux in three-dimensional MHD simulations, (2) show that observed magnetic flux changes can produce a fluxrope and that the dipped (concave upward) portion of the field lines form in the approximate location of the observed prominence, and (3) show that TH computations, using the computed geometry of magnetic field lines that are in three-dimensional MHD equilibrium, have condensations forming in the dipped portions of the field lines.