Calculation of Field Line Slippage Rates in Coronal Simulations

Abstract

We present the Universal Slippage calculator (\texttt{USlip}), an extension of the Universal Fieldline Tracer (\texttt{UFiT}), that computes magnetic field line slippage rates from an input magnetic field defined on a structured grid. The slippage rate provides a local, physically grounded diagnostic of non-ideal evolution, directly quantifying departures from ideal frozen-in motion. We outline the theoretical formulation and describe an efficient numerical implementation. The method is validated against analytical solutions and applied to simulations using three coronal codes treating varying spatial scales, all of which are standard inputs for \texttt{USlip}. In all the examples considered, the slippage rate not only identifies where magnetic connectivity changes occur, but also accurately reproduces the observed direction of field-line slippage. The consistency of the results across analytical tests and multiple simulation platforms demonstrates that \texttt{USlip} is a robust and versatile tool for diagnosing three-dimensional reconnection in dynamically evolving systems.