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Toroidal Magnetic Chamber ‘‘Tokamak’’ in the Solar Atmosphere: Confinement and Flare Magnetic Energy Release

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Abstract

The properties of an axisymmetric magnetohydrostatic configuration resembling a laboratory tokamak in its geometry are investigated. On the Sun this structure is located horizontally in an external magnetic field that is assumed to be uniform and vertical, a nondistorting external hydrostatic medium—the solar atmosphere. We calculate the equilibrium plasma density, pressure, and electric current distributions inside such a system and show the possibilities for the accumulation of magnetic energy and its flare release when the critical electric current densities are reached on the magnetic axis of the toroid. The scale of the current dissipation region, the electric field strength in it exceeding considerably the Dreicer one, and the energies of accelerated charged particles (up to a hundred MeV) are estimated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, 196140, St. Petersburg, Russia

    A. A. Solov’ev

  2. Kalmyk State University, 358000, Elista, Russia

    A. A. Solov’ev

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  1. A. A. Solov’ev
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Correspondence to A. A. Solov’ev.

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Translated by V. Astakhov

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Solov’ev, A.A. Toroidal Magnetic Chamber ‘‘Tokamak’’ in the Solar Atmosphere: Confinement and Flare Magnetic Energy Release. Astron. Lett. 48, 185–193 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773722030057

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063773722030057

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