Abstract
Zaitsev and Stepanov (1991, 1992) proposed a mechanism for energy release in solar flares that involves the intrusion of dense prominence material into a coronal loop. The resulting non-steady state conditions are claimed to increase the resistance of the loop by 8–10 orders of magnitude. It is shown here that the dramatic increase in resistance calculated by Zaitsev and Stepanov depends on a gross overestimate of the of the magnitude of the magnetic force in the loop prior to the flare trigger. A more realistic estimate of the increase due to the mechanism suggests that it is by no more than about four orders of magnitude. As a consequence, the ‘prominence-loading‘ mechanism does not provide a tenable flare model.
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Wheatland, M.S., Melrose, D.B. Energy release in a prominence-loaded flaring loop. Sol Phys 159, 137–141 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00733037
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00733037