Numerical Simulation of Solar Microflares in a Canopy-Type Magnetic Configuration

Abstract

Microflares are small activities in solar low atmosphere, some are in the low corona, and others in the chromosphere. Observations show that some of the microflares are triggered by magnetic reconnection between emerging flux and a pre-existing background magnetic field. We perform 2.5D compressible resistive MHD simulations of magnetic reconnection with gravity considered. The background magnetic field is a canopy-type configuration which is rooted at the boundary of the solar supergranule. By changing the bottom boundary conditions in the simulation, new magnetic flux emerges up at the center of the supergranule and reconnects with the canopy-type magnetic field. We successfully simulate the coronal and chromospheric microflares, whose current sheets are located at the corona and the chromosphere, respectively. The microflare of coronal origin has a bigger size and a higher temperature enhancement than that of chromospheric origin. In the microflares of coronal origin, we also found a hot jet ($\sim$$1.8 \times 10^6$ K), which is probably related to the observational EUV/SXR jets, and a cold jet ($\sim$$10^4$ K), which is similar to the observational H$\alpha$/Ca surges, whereas there is only an H$\alpha$/Ca bright point in the microflares of chromospheric origin. The study of parameter dependence shows that the size and strength of the emerging magnetic flux are the key parameters which determine the height of the reconnection location, and further determine the different observational features of the microflares.