MHD Simulations of the Solar Corona to Determine the Conditions for Large Solar Flares and the Acceleration of Cosmic Rays during Them

Abstract

Solar cosmic rays (SCRs) are generated during the primordial energy release in solar flares. This explosive process takes place in the solar corona above the active region. It represents the fast release of the magnetic field energy of the current sheet, which is formed near a singular magnetic field line. Solar cosmic rays appear as a result of the acceleration of charged particles, mainly protons, by an inductive electric field in the current sheet equal to the field E = V × B/c (with V the speed of plasma and B the magnetic field near the current sheet, and c the speed of light). To study the mechanism of solar flares and obtain conditions for studying SCR acceleration, it is necessary to carry out magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of flare situations in the solar corona above a real active region. Methods of stabilization were developed which made it possible to partially solve the problem of numerical instabilities. MHD simulations shows complicated configurations near the singular line. Comparison of the results of the MHD simulations with observations showed the general agreement of the positions of the current sheets with regions of intense flare radiation. However, there are some problems with the details of such coincidences. The results obtained in this paper show the possibility of improving the methods of MHD simulation in order to solve the problems that arise during solving of MHD equations.