• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.spc1
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• pp.37-44
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• 2003

In this paper, we review recent studies on the magnetic helicity changes of solar active regions by photospheric horizontal motions. Recently, Chae(200l) developed a methodology to determine the magnetic helicity change rate via photospheric horizontal motions. We have applied this methodology to four cases: (1) NOAA AR 8100 which has a series of homologous X-ray flares, (2) three active regions which have four eruptive major X-ray flares, (3) NOAA AR 9236 which has three eruptive X-class flares, and (4) NOAA AR 8668 in which a large filament was under formation. As a result, we have found several interesting results. First, the rate of magnetic helicity injection strongly depends on an active region and its evolution. Its mean rate ranges from 4 to $17 {\times} 10^{40}\;Mx^2\;h^{-1}$. Especially when the homologous flares occurred and when the filament was formed, significant rates of magnetic helicity were continuously deposited in the corona via photospheric shear flows. Second, there is a strong positive correlation between the magnetic helicity accumulated during the flaring time interval of the homologous flares in AR 8100 and the GOES X-ray flux integrated over the flaring time. This indicates that the occurrence of a series of homologous flares is physically related to the accumulation of magnetic helicity in the corona by photospheric shearing motions. Third, impulsive helicity variations took place near the flaring times of some strong flares. These impulsive variations whose time scales are less than one hour are attributed to localized velocity kernels around the polarity inversion line. Fourth, considering the filament eruption associated with an X1.8 flare started about 10 minutes before the impulsive variation of the helicity change rate, we suggest that the impulsive helicity variation is not a cause of the eruptive solar flare but its result. Finally, we discuss the physical implications on these results and our future plans.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.spc1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2003

We have studied the magnetic helicity of active regions by using the data from (1) the photo-electric magnetograph of the Okayama Observatory (1983-1995) and (2) the video magnetograph of NAOJ/Mitaka (1992-2000). The latitude distribution of helicity showed a tendency that the regions in the north (south) hemisphere have negative (positive) helicities, respectively, which is already known as the hemispheric sign rule. If we look into the sign of helicity as a function of time, the sign rule was less definite or was reversed sometimes in the sunspot minimum phase. We also studied the relation between the magnetic helicity and the sunspot tilt angles, and found that these two quantities are positively correlated, which is opposite to the expectation of a theoretical model. The implications of this cycle-phase dependence of helicity signs and the correlation between magnetic he Ii city and sunspot tilt angles are discussed.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.112.1-112.1
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• 2011

We present numerical simulations of inverse energy cascade and in driven three-dimensional (3D) electron magnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) turbulence. It has been known that inverse energy cascade only occurs in two-dimensional (2D) turbulence. However, we demonstrate that inverse energy cascade occurs in 3D driven EMHD turbulence. When magnetic helicity is injected on a small-scale, magnetic energy goes up to larger scales. The energy spectrum clearly shows inverse energy cascade. At the same time, magetic helicity spectrum also shows that the helicity goes up to larger scales. We obviously confirm inverse energy cascade. Net magnetic helicity for scales larger than the driving scale shows linear growth, and magnetic energy shows non-linear growth. On the other hand, when we drived turbulence without magnetic helicity, we do not observe inverse energy cascade.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2003

Recent observations have shown that coronal magnetic fields in the northern (southern) hemisphere tend to have negative (positive) magnetic helicity. There has been controversy as to whether this hemispheric pattern is of surface or sub-surface origin. A number of studies have focused on clarifying the effect of the surface differential rotation on the change of magnetic helicity in the corona. Meanwhile, recent observational studies reported the existence of transient shear flows in active regions that can feed magnetic helicity to the corona at a much higher rate than the differential rotation does. Here we propose that such transient shear flows may be driven by the torque produced by either the axial or radial expansion of the coronal segment of a twisted flux tube that is rooted deeply below the surface. We have derived a simple relation between the coronal expansion parameter and the amount of helicity transferred via shear flows. To demonstrate our proposition, we have inspected Yohkoh soft X-ray images of NOAA 8668 in which strong shear flows were observed. As a result, we found that the expansion of magnetic fields really took place in the corona while transient shear flows were observed in the photosphere, and the amount of magnetic helicity change due to the transient shear flows is quantitatively consistent with the observed expansion of coronal magnetic fields. The transient shear flows hence may be understood as an observable manifestation of the pumping of magnetic helicity out of the interior portions of the field lines driven by the expansion of coronal parts as was originally proposed by Parker (1974).

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.295-298
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• 2005

Recently a big progress has been made on the measurements of magnetic helicity of solar active regions based on photospheric magnetograms . In this paper, we present the details of Chae's method of determining the rate of helicity transfer using line-of-sight magnetograms such as taken by SORO /MDI. The method is specifically applied to full-disk magnetograms that are routinely taken at 96-minute cadence.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.45.2-45.2
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• 2018

Twisted magnetic flux tubes (also called magnetic flux ropes) are believed to play a crucial role in solar eruptive phenomena. The evolution of a single flux rope with or without the influence of an overlying field of a simple geometry has been extensively studied and its physics is rather well understood. Observations show that interacting flux tubes are often involved in solar eruptions. It was Lau and Finn (1996) who intensively studied the interaction between two flux ropes, whose footpoints are anchored in two parallel planes. In this too simplified setting, the curvature of the flux rope axial fields is totally ignored. In our study, the footpoints of flux ropes are placed in a single plane containing a polarity inversion line as in the real solar active region. Our simulation study is performed for four cases: (1) co-axial field and co-axial current (co-helicity), (2) counter-axial field and co-axial current (counter-helicity), (3) co-axial field and counter-axial current (counter-helicity), and (4) counter-axial field and counter-axial current (co-helicity). Except case 3, each case is found to be related with certain eruptive features.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.54.1-54.1
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• 2019

Solar observations often show that interaction of more than one flux rope is involved in solar eruptions. In this regard, Lau and Finn (1996) intensively studied the interaction of two flux ropes, which reside in between two parallel planes each mimicking one polarity region of the solar photosphere. However, this geometry is quite far from the real solar situation, in which all feet of flux tubes are rooted in one surface only. In this paper, we study the interaction of two flux ropes in a semi-infinite region above a plane representing the solar photosphere. Four cases of the flux rope interaction are investigated in our MHD simulation study: (1) parallel axial fields and parallel axial currents (co-helicity), (2) antiparallel axial fields and parallel axial currents (counter-helicity), (3) parallel axial fields and antiparallel axial currents (counter-helicity), and (4) antiparallel axial fields and antiparallel axial currents (co-helicity). Each case consists of four or six subcases according to the background field direction relative to the flux ropes and the relative positions of the flux rope footpoints. In our simulations, all the cases eventually show eruptive behaviors, but their degree of explosiveness and field topological evolutions are quite different. We construct artificial emission measure maps based on the simulations and compare them with images of CME observations, which provides us with information on what field configurations may generate certain eruption features.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.59.4-59.4
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• 2017

We present a way of quantitatively characterizing solar active regions on the basis of their evolutionary paths. To determine characteristic properties of active regions with different sizes and configurations, we use a physics-based model to derive a relation between emerged magnetic flux and injected magnetic helicity (Flux-Helicity relation), the former of which gives scale information while the latter represents the magnetic field configuration of an active region. We demonstrate how this relation provides evolutionary paths of active regions and determines their characteristic properties, through a comparison with modeled active regions obtained from magnetohydrodynamic simulations.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.26.1-26.1
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• 2006

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.31-31
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• 2002