AUTHOR=Zhou Zhenjun , Jiang Chaowei , Yu Xiaoyu , Wang Yuming , Hao Yongqiang , Cui Jun TITLE=The mechanism of magnetic flux rope rotation during solar eruption JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physics VOLUME=11 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics/articles/10.3389/fphy.2023.1119637 DOI=10.3389/fphy.2023.1119637 ISSN=2296-424X ABSTRACT=

Solar eruptions often show the rotation of filaments, which is a manifestation of the rotation of erupting magnetic flux rope (MFR). Such a rotation of MFR can be induced by either the torque exerted by a background shear-field component (which is an external cause) or the relaxation of the magnetic twist of the MFR (an internal cause). For a given chirality of the erupting field, both the external and internal drivers cause the same rotation direction. Therefore, it remains elusive from direct observations which mechanism yields the dominant contribution to the rotation. In this paper, we exploit a full MHD simulation of solar eruption by tether-cutting magnetic reconnection to study the mechanism of MFR rotation. In the simulation, the MFR’s height–rotation profile suggests that the force by the external shear-field component is a dominant contributor to the rotation. Furthermore, the torque analysis confirms that it is also the only factor in driving the counterclockwise rotation. On the contrary, the Lorentz torque inside the MFR makes a negative effect on this counterclockwise rotation.