Solar Flares: Implications of the Circuit Model (Invited Paper)

Abstract

AbstractA review is given of recent developments in the interpretation of the structure and heating of the solar corona, and of solar flares. An electric circuit model for a flaring magnetic loop is introduced, and used to discuss the closure of the current pattern. It is argued that cross-field current flow cannot be set up after a flux tube has emerged above the photosphere. The energy dissipated in a flare is attributed to a change in the inductance of the flaring loop, with the current remaining approximately constant. Emphasis is placed on the value of the resistance of the flaring loop, and on the associated inductive timescale.