Award Abstract #0519107
NSWP: Can the Kink Instability Trigger Solar Energetic Events?

NSF Org:	ATM Division of Atmospheric Sciences
Initial Amendment Date:	July 20, 2005
Latest Amendment Date:	August 8, 2007
Award Number:	0519107
Award Instrument:	Continuing grant
Program Manager:	Paul Bellaire ATM Division of Atmospheric Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date:	January 1, 2006
Expires:	December 31, 2008 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$275231
Investigator(s):	K.D. Leka leka@cora.nwra.com (Principal Investigator) Graham Barnes (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	NorthWest Research Associates, Incorporated 4118 148th Ave NE Redmond, WA 98052 425/556-9055
NSF Program(s):	SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL
Field Application(s):	0205000 Space
Program Reference Code(s):	EGCH,9196
Program Element Code(s):	1523

ABSTRACT

The proposed work will consider one candidate mechanism, the magnetic kink instability, as a trigger for solar eruptive events. This instability describes the rapid conversion of the "twist" component of magnetic helicity (the winding of the field lines about an axis) into "writhe" (winding of the axis itself). The PI asserted that recent observational studies concluding that active regions have insufficient magnetic twist to enable the kink instability have suffered from systematically underestimating the twist. The proposers offered here a new observational method with different assumptions, and stated that initial blind tests indicated that this method could successfully recover the twist known to be present in numerical simulations. The proposed new method will give a clearer indication of the role of the kink instability by improving upon the recent studies that have ruled out the kink instability based on what the proposers considered to be inappropriate assumptions.

The results of this study will aid in determining which mechanism(s) gives rise to solar energetic events. The proposed work will identify flux ropes and evaluate their twist for a significant number of active regions, using vector magnetic field data in both the photosphere and chromosphere. The project goal will be to examine whether the kink instability can play a role in solar energetic events; the focus will be on establishing the necessary rather than the sufficient conditions for the occurrence of this mechanism in the Sun.

For broader impacts, the vector magnetic field data used in this study, both photospheric and chromospheric, will be made available to the solar research community. The proposers will advise a graduate student from the Air Force Institute of Technology, as well as continue their ongoing public outreach programs and the mentoring of young women.

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