Magnetohydrodynamic instabilities in coronal arcades

Abstract

The MHD stability of coronal arcades is studied with and without a detached flux using a two-dimensional linear MHD stability numerical model. Two-dimensional magnetohydrostatic equilibria with and without gravity are computed. A coronal arcade without a detached flux tube is found to be stable for any magnetic shear and for any longitudinal mode. On the other hand, an arcade with a detached flux tube is unstable for perturbations with nonzero longitudinal wave number n and the instability mode structure and growth rate vary depending on the field twist and n. All the equilibria studied are stable to n = 0 perturbations. Gravity has a stabilizing effect on the equilibria. As the ratio lambda of the standard arcade width to the gravitational scale height increases from zero to 0.2, the m = 0 transverse mode growth rate decreases, but high m modes are stabilized. The equilibria studied here are completely stabilized for lambda larger than 0.33.