Abstract Details


Name: Shanwlee Sow Mondal
Affiliation: CUA, NASA GSFC
Conference ID: TVS202510174
Title: Characterizing Nanoflare Energy and Frequency through Field Line Analysis
Authors and Co-Authors: L. K. S. Daldorff, James A. Klimchuk, C. D. Johnston
Abstract Type: Invited by SOC
Abstract: The heating of the solar corona remains one of the central unresolved problems in solar physics, with nanoflares -- small-scale magnetic reconnection events -- offering a plausible explanation. We present a detailed analysis of a 3D MHD simulation of a subset of the magnetic flux in an active region, which models the generation of nanoflares and the plasma response to imposed photospheric motions. Our study characterizes the energy distribution and occurrence frequency of the simulated nanoflares that self-consistently heat the corona. This field-line-based analysis shows that the nanoflare energy distribution (per unit cross-sectional area) follows a log-normal profile, with low-energy events occurring much more frequently than high-energy ones. When compared with the plasma cooling time, nanoflares recur at rates that depend on their energy; however, the thermal evolution of plasma along individual field lines is governed predominantly by high-energy nanoflares. In this talk, I will present these findings and their implications for the role of nanoflares in coronal heating.