Reconnection-driven Current Filamentation in Solar Arcades

Abstract

We present numerical simulations of the interaction between two bipoles through magnetic reconnection in the lower solar atmosphere, a process believed to be the origin of many manifestations of solar activity. The present work differs from previous studies in that the field is sheared asymmetrically and that the bipoles have markedly unequal field strengths. Our key discovery is that, under such common circumstances, reconnection leads to an apparently random distribution of shear in the magnetic field, resulting in numerous current sheets throughout the volume occupied by the reconnected field lines. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a numerical simulation yielding current sheets over a large but well-defined volume of the corona, resembling a coronal loop in profile. In this Letter, we demonstrate this process of reconnection-driven current filamentation and discuss ramifications for coronal heating and structure.