Numerical Simulations of the Magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in the Kippenhahn-Schlüter Prominence Model

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• Isobe, Hiroaki
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• Shibata, Kazunari
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• Berger, Thomas

Abstract

The launch of the Hinode satellite has allowed unprecedented high-resolution, stable images of solar quiescent prominences to be taken over extended periods of time. These new images led to the discovery of dark upflows that propagated from the base of prominences, developing highly turbulent profiles. As yet, how these flows are driven is not fully understood. To study the physics behind these phenomena, we use three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations to investigate the nonlinear stability of the Kippenhahn-Shlüter prominence model to the magnetic Rayleigh-Taylor instability. The model simulates the rise of a buoyant tube inside a quiescent prominence, where the upper boundary between the tube and prominence model is perturbed to excite the interchange of magnetic field lines. We found upflows of constant velocity (maximum found 6 km s^-1) and a maximum plume width ≈1500 km which propagate through a height of approximately 6 Mm in the no guide field case. The case with the strong guide field (initially B_y = 2B_x ) results in a large plume that rises through the prominence model at ~5 km s^-1 with width ~900 km (resulting in width of 2400 km when viewed along the axis of the prominence), reaching a height of ~3.1 Mm. In both cases, nonlinear processes were important for determining plume dynamics.