Effect of Radiation on Chromospheric Magnetic Reconnection: Reactive and Collisional Multi-fluid Simulations

We study magnetic reconnection under chromospheric conditions in five different ionization levels from 0.5% to 50% using a self-consistent two-fluid (ions + neutrals) model that accounts for compressibility, collisional effects, chemical inequilibrium, and anisotropic heat conduction. Results with a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2017-06, Vol.842 (2), p.117
Main Authors: Alvarez Laguna, A., Lani, A., Mansour, N. N., Deconinck, H., Poedts, S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION
ANISOTROPY
APPROXIMATIONS
Astrophysics
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
CHROMOSPHERE
COMPRESSIBILITY
Compressibility effects
Computer simulation
CONCENTRATION RATIO
Conduction heating
Conductive heat transfer
Cooling
Cooling effects
Current sheets
Diffusion
Diffusion effects
Diffusion rate
EQUILIBRIUM
FLUIDS
INTERACTIONS
IONIZATION
Ions
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
Organic chemistry
Photosphere
Physics
Plasma Physics
PLASMA PRESSURE
RADIANT HEAT TRANSFER
Radiation
Radiation effects
radiative transfer
RECOMBINATION
SIMULATION
SOLAR PROMINENCES
Spicules
SUN
Sun: chromosphere
TEARING INSTABILITY
THERMAL CONDUCTION
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Summary:We study magnetic reconnection under chromospheric conditions in five different ionization levels from 0.5% to 50% using a self-consistent two-fluid (ions + neutrals) model that accounts for compressibility, collisional effects, chemical inequilibrium, and anisotropic heat conduction. Results with and without radiation are compared, using two models for the radiative losses: an optically thin radiation loss function, and an approximation of the radiative losses of a plasma with photospheric abundances. The results without radiation show that reconnection occurs faster for the weakly ionized cases as a result of the effect of ambipolar diffusion and fast recombination. The tearing mode instability appears earlier in the low ionized cases and grows rapidly. We find that radiative losses have a stronger effect than was found in previous results as the cooling changes the plasma pressure and the concentration of ions inside the current sheet. This affects the ambipolar diffusion and the chemical equilibrium, resulting in thin current sheets and enhanced reconnection. The results quantify this complex nonlinear interaction by showing that a strong cooling produces faster reconnections than have been found in models without radiation. The results accounting for radiation show timescales and outflows comparable to spicules and chromospheric jets.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/aa7554