Current-sheet Oscillations Caused by Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability at the Loop Top of Solar Flares [SSA]

http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.10361


Current sheets (CSs), long stretching structures of magnetic reconnection above solar flare loops, are usually observed to oscillate, their origins, however, are still puzzled at present. Based on a high-resolution 2.5-dimensional MHD simulation of magnetic reconnection, we explore the formation mechanism of the CS oscillations. We find that large-amplitude transverse waves are excited by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) at the highly turbulent cusp-shaped region. The perturbations propagate upward along the CS with a phase speed close to local Alfv\'{e}n speed thus resulting in the CS oscillations we observe. Though the perturbations damp after propagating for a long distance, the CS oscillations are still detectable. In terms of detected CS oscillations, with a combination of differential emission measure technique, we propose a new method for measuring the magnetic field strength of the CSs and its distribution in height.

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Y. Wang, X. Cheng, Z. Ren, et. al.
Tue, 24 May 22
5/92

Comments: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters