Thermal Trigger for Solar Flares III: Effect of the Oblique Layer Fragmentation

Abstract

We consider the oblique fragmentation of the current layer as a result of the thermal instability described in Ledentsov (Sol. Phys. 296, 74, 2021a). It is shown that the fragmentation transverse to the current is a natural feature of the model. The fragmentation tilt does not exceed a few degrees for realistic preflare parameters of the coronal plasma. As a consequence, oblique fragmentation generally does not have a strong impact on the simulation results, however, extreme changes can reach an order of magnitude. Thus, oblique fragmentation can lead to a decrease in the estimate of the spatial period of the location of elementary energy release in solar flares to 0.1-1 Mm instead of 1-10 Mm obtained earlier.