Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-5g6vh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T06:10:51.571Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Helicity transport from solar convection zone to interplanetary space

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2013

Mei Zhang*
Affiliation:
Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, National Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road A20, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100012, China email: zhangmei@bao.ac.cn
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Magnetic helicity is a physical quantity that describes field topology. It is also a conserved quantity as Berger in 1984 demonstrated that the total magnetic helicity is still conserved in the corona even when there is a fast magnetic reconnection. It is generally believed that solar magnetic fields, together with their helicity, are created in the convection zone by various dynamo processes. These fields and helicity are transported into the corona through solar photosphere and finally released into the interplanetary space via various processes such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar winds. Here I will give a brief review on our recent works, first on helicity observations on the photosphere and how to understand these observations via dynamo models. Mostly, I will talk about what are the possible consequences of magnetic helicity accumulation in the corona, namely, the formation of magnetic flux ropes, CMEs taking place as an unavoidable product of coronal evolution, and flux emergences as a trigger of CMEs. Finally, I will address on in what a form magnetic field in the interplanetary space would accommodate a large amount of magnetic helicity that solar dynamo processes have been continuously producing.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2013 

References

Bao, S. D. & Zhang, H. Q. 1998, ApJ (Letters), 496, L43 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, M. A. 1984, Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn., 30, 79 Google Scholar
Flyer, N., Fornberg, B., Thomas, S., & Low, B. C. 2004, ApJ, 606, 1210 Google Scholar
Hagino, M. & Sakurai, T. 2004, PASJ, 56, 831 Google Scholar
Hagino, M. & Sakurai, T. 2005, PASJ, 57, 481 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hao, J. & Zhang, M. 2011, ApJ (Letters), 733, L27 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, B. C. 2001, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 25141 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Low, B. C. & Lou, Y. Q. 1990, ApJ, 352, 343 Google Scholar
Miesch, M. S. & Brown, B. P. 2012, ApJ (Letters), 746, L26 Google Scholar
Pevtsov, A. A., Canfield, R. C., & Metcalf, T. R. 1995, ApJ (Letters), 440, L109 Google Scholar
Pevtsov, A. A., Canfield, R. C., & Latushko, S. M. 2001, ApJ (Letters), 549, L261 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pevtsov, A. A. & Latushko, S. M. 2000, ApJ, 528, 999 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, J. B. 1974, Phys. Rev. Lett., 33, 1139 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, C. Y. & Zhang, M. 2010, ApJ, 720, 632 Google Scholar
Wang, D., Zhang, M., Li, H., & Zhang, H. Q. 2009a, Science in China Series G: Physics, Mechanics and Astronomy, 52, 1707 Google Scholar
Wang, D., Zhang, M., Li, H., & Zhang, H. Q. 2009b, Sol. Phys., 260, 233 Google Scholar
Wiegelmann, T. & Sakurai, T. 2012, Living Rev. Solar Phys., 9, 5 Google Scholar
Woltjer, L. 1958, Proc. US Natl. Acad. Sci., 44, 489 Google Scholar
Zhang, M. 2006, ApJ (Letters), 646, L85 Google Scholar
Zhang, M. & Flyer, N. 2008, ApJ, 683, 1160 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, M., Flyer, N., & Low, B. C. 2006, ApJ, 644, 575 Google Scholar
Zhang, M. & Low, B. C. 2003, ApJ, 584, 479 Google Scholar
Zhang, M. & Low, B. C. 2005, ARAA, 43, 103 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, Y., Zhang, M., & Zhang, H. Q. 2008, Sol. Phys., 250, 75 Google Scholar