Figure 9: Current sheet development and magnetic reconnection.
From: Data-driven magnetohydrodynamic modelling of a flux-emerging active region leading to solar eruption
(a) 3D shape of the current sheet. It is defined as the region with J/B>1/(2Δ) (where Δ is the minimal grid size in the model), which consists of intense current layers with width of ∼Δ, thin enough for resistivity to take effect70. Its colour denotes the height z from the bottom, and the bottom surface is shown with the photospheric magnetogram of the FER defined in Fig. 2a. (b) Flow directions at a vertical cross-section of the current sheet, whose horizontal extent is denoted by the short line in a. Reconnection inflow and outflow can be clearly seen after t=52. (c) Evolution of the size of the current sheet, magnetic flux injection rate (defined by S|B|vdS where v is plasma velocity and S is the full surface of the current sheet) compared with that of the kinetic energy. All are scaled by their values at t=60.
