Title: 

Towards Understanding the Nature of Solar Anger Manifested as CMEs





Ilia Roussev
University of Michigan




Abstract:

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares are the most stunning
manifestations of solar activity or, metaphorically speaking, solar anger.
They are of great scientific and practical interest because solar eruptions
and related energetic particle events endanger human life in outer space and
pose major hazards for spacecraft in the inner solar system. CMEs and flares
are presently recognized as two different manifestations of a single
physical process, which involves a catastrophic loss of mechanical
equilibrium of coronal magnetic fields. However, the actual trigger
mechanisms for solar eruptions are yet to be determined. These mechanisms
are the subject of active research and debate by both solar theorists and
computational modelers. To improve present knowledge on solar eruptions, any
related physical model has to account for two basic properties of the
eruption process. These are the fundamental cause of the eruption itself and
the nature of morphological features associated with it. This talk
summarizes the current state of understanding the origin and dynamics of
coronal mass ejections through theory, modeling, and observations. A strong
emphasis is put on the research studies being conducted at the Center for
Space Environment Modeling of the University of Michigan. The future
prospects of realistic data-driven modeling of solar eruptions and related
solar energetic particles are also discussed. Once perfected, the models of
CMEs should lead to significant improvements in our ability to forecast
these violent solar disturbances with great impact on geospace.