ESP Online Seminar: Nonequilibrium ionization and ambipolar diffusion in magnetic flux emergence processes (Daniel Nóbrega-Siverio)

Magnetic flux emergence from the solar interior has been shown to be a key mechanism for unleashing a wide variety of ejective and eruptive phenomena. However, there are still open questions concerning the role of different physical processes, like nonequilibrium (NEQ) ionization/recombination and the electrodynamics of partially ionized gases, in the rise of the magnetized plasma. Our aim is to investigate, for the first time, the impact of the NEQ formation of atomic and molecular hydrogen as well as the ambipolar diffusion term of the generalized Ohm’s law on the flux emergence process. This is possible through 2.5D flux emergence numerical experiments using the Bifrost code. In this presentation, we will report the first results of this research, emphasizing on the importance of having NEQ ionization to properly compute the effects of the ambipolar diffusion.