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David Kuridze

Publications and source records attributed to David Kuridze.

15 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Chromospheric magnetic field extrapolations reveal the flux-rope configuration of a solar filament

Solar eruptions are powered by the release of magnetic energy stored in the lower solar atmosphere, but the pre-eruptive magnetic configuration of filament channels remains difficult to determine. A central question is whether this energy is stored in a pre-existing magnetic flux rope or in a sheared arcade that forms a flux rope only during eruption. Resolving this ambiguity is critical for identifying instability thresholds and eruption triggers, yet photosphere-based extrapolations often provide insufficient constraints on the three-dimensional coronal field. Here, we introduce a data-driven magnetic field extrapolation framework that combines photospheric and chromospheric vector magnetograms in a unified multi-height optimization, while accounting for variable chromospheric formation heights and the 180{\deg} azimuthal ambiguity. Tests with radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations show that photosphere-only extrapolations can misidentify the pre-eruptive magnetic configuration, whereas chromospheric vector constraints recover the three-dimensional structure substantially more accurately. Applied to multi-line spectropolarimetric observations of an active region filament obtained with the Swedish Solar Telescope, the method reveals a reconstructed magnetic field consistent with a pre-eruptive flux-rope configuration. These results show that chromospheric vector magnetic measurements can provide decisive constraints on filament magnetic configuration and open a path toward diagnosing magnetic-energy storage and instability in eruptive solar active regions.

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arXiv2025

The evolution of chromospheric quiet-sun bright points during their lifetime

Bright points (BPs) are ubiquitous, small-scale energetic events with multithermal signatures, typically observed in the chromosphere and linked to both photospheric structure and coronal composition. Their evolution is influenced by various physical processes, including plasma dynamics and magnetic interactions. This paper examines BP evolution using a large statistical sample, focusing on when they reach maximum values for key attributes, and explores differences between BPs in the "Active Quiet Sun" (AQS, above the network) and the "True Quiet Sun" (TQS, above the internetwork). Observed attributes include maximum brightness (total and intrinsic), plane-of-sky (POS) speed, travel distance, acceleration, and apparent size (POS area). BPs can reach maximum brightness and size at almost any time during their lifetime, likely due to complex chromospheric interactions. AQS and TQS BPs show similar behaviour overall and tend to reach maximum POS speed around the midpoint of their lifetimes. Positive acceleration usually occurs early, while negative acceleration is more common near the end. Preliminary results suggest two distinct BP regimes with differing relationships between intrinsic brightness and area. We interpret these trends as evidence that BPs, whether due to plasma motion or a heating event, follow arched paths -- likely along short magnetic loops. In this model, the midpoint of a BP's life corresponds to the crest of the arch, producing the greatest POS speeds. Reconnection may occur at a footpoint, with the BP moving along the loop before returning to the photosphere. Deviations from this expected evolution may result from complex chromospheric interactions or BPs with highly non-linear POS motions.

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arXiv2024

An in-depth analysis of quiet-Sun IRIS Brightenings

Small-scale brightenigs are ubiquitous, dynamic and energetic phenomena found in the chromopshere. An advanced filter-detection algorithm applied to high-resolution observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph enables the detection of these brightenings close to the noise level. This algorithm also tracks the movement of these brightenings and extracts their characteristics. This work outlines the results of an in-depth analysis of a quiet-Sun dataset including a comparison of a brighter domain - associated with a super-granular boundary - to the quiescent inter-network domains. Several characteristics of brightenings from both domains are extracted and analysed, providing a range of sizes, durations, brightness values, travel distances, and speeds. The ``Active" quiet-Sun events tend to travel shorter distances and at slower speeds along the plane-of-sky than their ``True" quiet-Sun counterparts. These results are consistent with the magnetic field model of super-granular photospheric structures and the magnetic canopy model of the chromosphere above. Spectroscopic analyses reveal that BPs demonstrate blue-shift (as well as some bi-directionality) and that they may rise from the chromosphere into the TR. We believe these bright points to be magnetic in nature, are likely the result of magnetic reconnection, and follow current sheets between magnetic field gradients, rather than along magnetic field lines themselves.

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arXiv2022

A solar-cycle study of coronal rotation: large variations, rapid changes, and implications for solar wind models

Information on the rotation rate of the corona, and its variation over latitude and solar cycle, is valuable for making global connections between the corona and the Sun, for global estimates of reconnection rates, and as a basic parameter for solar wind modelling. Here, we use a time series of tomographical maps gained from coronagraph observations between 2007 - 2020 to directly measure the longitudinal drift of high-density streamers over time. The method reveals abrupt changes in rotation rates, revealing a complex relationship between the coronal rotation and the underlying photosphere. The majority of rates are between -1.0 to +0.5$^\circ$/day relative to the standard Carrington rate of 14.18$^\circ$/day, although rates are measured as low as -2.2$^\circ$/day and as high as 1.6$^\circ$/day. Equatorial rotation rates during the 2008 solar minimum are slightly faster than the Carrington rate, with an abrupt switch to slow rotation in 2009, then a return to faster rates in 2017. Abrupt changes and large variations in rates are seen at all latitudes. Comparison with a magnetic model suggests that periods of equatorial fast rotation are associated with times when a large proportion of the magnetic footpoints of equatorial streamers are near the equator, and we interpret the abrupt changes in terms of the latitudinal distribution of the streamer photospheric footpoints. The coronal rotation rate is a key parameter for solar wind models, and variations of up to a degree per day or more can lead to large systematic errors over forecasting periods of longer than a few days. The approach described in this paper gives corrected values that can form a part of future forecasting efforts.

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arXiv2022

The Atmospheric Response to High Nonthermal Electron Beam Fluxes in Solar Flares. II. Hydrogen Broadening Predictions for Solar Flare Observations with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope

Red-shifted components of chromospheric emission lines in the hard X-ray impulsive phase of solar flares have recently been studied through their 30 s evolution with the high resolution of IRIS. Radiative-hydrodynamic flare models show that these redshifts are generally reproduced by electron-beam generated chromospheric condensations. The models produce large ambient electron densities, and the pressure broadening of hydrogen Balmer series should be readily detected in observations. To accurately interpret upcoming spectral data of flares with the DKIST, we incorporate non-ideal, non-adiabatic line broadening profiles of hydrogen into the RADYN code. These improvements allow time-dependent predictions for the extreme Balmer line wing enhancements in solar flares. We study two chromospheric condensation models, which cover a range of electron beam fluxes ($1-5 \times 10^{11}$ erg s$^{-1}$ cm$^{-2}$) and ambient electron densities ($1 - 60 \times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-3}$) in the flare chromosphere. Both models produce broadening and redshift variations within 10 s of the onset of beam heating. In the chromospheric condensations, there is enhanced spectral broadening due to large optical depths at H$α$, H$β$, and H$γ$, while the much lower optical depth of the Balmer series H12$-$H16 provides a translucent window into the smaller electron densities in the beam-heated layers below the condensation. The wavelength ranges of typical DKIST/ViSP spectra of solar flares will be sufficient to test the predictions of extreme hydrogen wing broadening and accurately constrain large densities in chromospheric condensations.

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arXiv2021

Detecting and characterising small-scale brightenings in solar imaging data

Observations of small-scale brightenings in the low solar atmosphere can provide valuable constraints on possible heating/heat-transport mechanisms. We present a method for the detection and analysis of brightenings and demonstrate its application to IRIS EUV time-series imagery. The method uses band-pass filtering, adaptive thresholding and centroid tracking, and records an event's position, duration, and total/maximum brightness. Area, brightness, and position are also recorded as functions of time throughout their lifetime. Detected brightenings can fragment or merge over time, thus the number of distinct regions constituting a brightening event is recorded over time and the maximum number of regions are recorded as a simple measure of an event's coherence/complexity. A test is made on a synthetic datacube composed of a static background based on IRIS data, Poisson noise and $\approx10^4$ randomly-distributed, moving, small-scale Gaussian brightenings. Maximum brightness, total brightness, area, and duration follow power-law distributions and the results show the range over which the method can extract information. The recorded maximum brightness is a reliable measure for the brightest and most accurately detected events with an error of 6%. Area, duration, and speed are generally underestimated by 15% with an uncertainty of 20-30%. Total brightness is underestimated by 30% with an uncertainty of 30%. Applying this method to real IRIS QS data spanning 19 minutes over a 54.40"$\times$55.23" FOV yields 2997 detections. 1340 of these either remain un-fragmented or fragment to two distinct regions at least once during their lifetime equating to an event density of $3.96\times10^{-4}$arcsec$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$. The method will be used for a future large-scale statistical analysis of several QS data sets from IRIS, other EUV imagers, as well as H-$α$ and visible photospheric imagery.

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arXiv2021

Temporal evolution of small-scale internetwork magnetic fields in the solar photosphere

While the longitudinal field that dominates photospheric network regions has been studied extensively, small scale transverse fields have recently been found to be ubiquitous in the quiet internetwork photosphere. Few observations have captured how this field evolves. We aim to statistically characterise the magnetic properties and observe the temporal evolution of small scale magnetic features. We present two high spatial/temporal resolution observations that reveal the dynamics of two disk centre internetwork regions taken by the new GRIS/IFU (GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph Integral Field Unit) with the highly magnetically sensitive Fe I line pair at 15648.52 Å and 15652.87 Å. With the SIR code, we consider two inversion schemes: scheme 1 (S1), where a magnetic atmosphere is embedded in a field free medium, and scheme 2 (S2), with two magnetic models and a fixed stray light component. S1 inversions returned a median magnetic field strength of 200 and 240 G for the two datasets, respectively. We consider the median transverse (horizontal) component, among pixels with Stokes Q or U, and the median unsigned longitudinal (vertical) component, among pixels with Stokes V, above a noise threshold. We determined the former to be 263 G and 267 G, and the latter to be 131 G and 145 G, for the two datasets, respectively. We present three regions of interest (ROIs), tracking the dynamics of small scale magnetic features. We apply S1 and S2 inversions to specific profiles, and find S2 produces better approximations when there is evidence of mixed polarities. We find patches of linear polarization with magnetic flux density between 130 and 150 G, appearing preferentially at granule/intergranular lane (IGL) boundaries. The weak hG magnetic field appears to be organised in terms of complex loop structures, with transverse fields often flanked by opposite polarity longitudinal fields.

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arXiv2021

Flare Induced Photospheric Velocity Diagnostics

We present radiative hydrodynamic simulations of solar flares generated by the RADYN and RH codes to study the perturbations induced in photospheric Fe I lines by electron beam heating. We investigate how variations in the beam parameters result in discernible differences in the induced photospheric velocities. Line synthesis revealed a significant chromospheric contribution to the line profiles resulting in an apparent red asymmetry by as much as 40 m/s close to the time of maximum beam heating which was not reflective of the upflow velocities that arose from the radiative hydrodynamic simulations at those times. The apparent redshift to the overall line profile was produced by significant chromospheric emission that was blueshifted by as much as 400 m/s and fills in the blue side of the near stationary photospheric absorption profile. The velocity information that can be retrieved from photospheric line profiles during flares must therefore be treated with care to mitigate the effects of higher parts of the atmosphere providing an erroneous velocity signal.

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arXiv2020

Multiwavelength Imaging and Spectral Analysis of Jet-like Phenomena in a Solar Active Region Using IRIS and AIA

High-resolution observations of dynamic phenomena give insight into properties and processes that govern the low solar atmosphere. We present the analysis of jet-like phenomena emanating from a penumbral foot-point in active region (AR) 12192 using imaging and spectral observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. These jets are associated with line-of-sight (LoS) Doppler speeds of $\pm$ 10-22 km s$^{-1}$ and bright fronts which seem to move across the Plane-of-Sky (PoS) at speeds of 23-130 km s$^{-1}$. Such speeds are considerably higher than the expected sound speed in the chromosphere. The jets have signatures which are visible both in the cool and hot channels of IRIS and AIA. Each jet lasts on average 15 minutes and occur 5-7 times over a period of 2 hours. Possible mechanisms to explain this phenomenon are suggested, the most likely of which involve p-mode or Alfv\' en wave shock trains impinging on the transition region (TR) and corona as a result of steepening photospheric wavefronts or gravity waves.

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arXiv2020

Signatures of Helium continuum in cool flare loops observed by SDO/AIA

We present an analysis of off-limb cool flare loops observed by SDO/AIA during the gradual phase of SOL2017-09-10T16:06 X8.2-class flare. In the EUV channels starting from the 335 Å one, cool loops appear as dark structures against the bright loop arcade. These dark structures were precisely coaligned (spatially and temporally) with loops observed by SST in emission lines of hydrogen and ionized calcium. Recently published semi-empirical model of cool loops based on SST observations serves us to predict the level of hydrogen and helium recombination continua. The continua were synthesized using an approximate non-LTE approach and theoretical spectra were then transformed to AIA signals. Comparison with signals detected inside the dark loops shows that only in AIA 211 Å channel the computed level of recombination continua is consistent with observations for some models, while in all other channels which are more distant from the continua edges the synthetic continuum is far too low. In analogy with on-disk observations of flares we interpret the surplus emission as due to numerous EUV lines emitted from hot but faint loops in front of the cool ones. Finally we briefly comment on failure of the standard absorption model when used for analysis of the dark-loop brightness.

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arXiv2019

Spectral diagnostics of cool flare loops observed by SST: I. Inversion of the Ca II 8542 Å and H$β$ lines

Flare loops form an integral part of eruptive events, being detected in the range of temperatures from X-rays down to cool chromospheric-like plasmas. While the hot loops are routinely observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA), cool loops seen off-limb are rare. In this paper we employ unique observations of the SOL2017-09-10T16:06 X8.2-class flare which produced an extended arcade of loops. The Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) made a series of spectral images of the cool off-limb loops in the Ca II 8542 Å and the hydrogen H$β$ lines. Our focus is on the loop apices. Non-LTE spectral inversion is achieved through the construction of extended grids of models covering a realistic range of plasma parameters. The Multilevel Accelerated Lambda Iterations (MALI) code solves the non-LTE radiative-transfer problem in a 1D externally-illuminated slab, approximating the studied loop segment. Inversion of the Ca II 8542 Å and H$β$ lines yields two similar solutions, both indicating high electron densities around $2 \times 10^{12}$ cm$^{-3}$ and relatively large microturbulence around 25 kms$^{-1}$. These are in reasonable agreement with other independent studies of the same or similar events. In particular, the high electron densities in the range $10^{12} - 10^{13}$ cm$^{-3}$ are consistent with those derived from the SDO's Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager white-light observations. The presence of such high densities in solar eruptive flares supports the loop interpretation of the optical continuum emission of stars which manifest superflares.

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arXiv2019

Multi-wavelength observations of the 2014 June 11 M3.9 flare: temporal and spatial characteristics

We present multi-wavelength observations of an M-class flare (M3.9) that occurred on 2014 June 11. Our observations were conducted with the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST), adaptive optics, the multi-camera system ROSA (Rapid Oscillations in Solar Atmosphere) and new HARDcam (Hydrogen-Alpha Rapid Dynamics) camera in various wavelengths, such as Ca~II~K, Mg~I~b$_2$ (at 5172.7 Ang), and H$α$ narrow-band, and G-band continuum filters. Images were re-constructed using the Kiepencheuer-Institut Speckle Interferometry Package (KISIP) code, to improve our image resolution. We observed intensity increases of $\approx$120-150% in the Mg, Ca~K and H$α$ narrow band filters during the flare. Intensity increases for the flare observed in the SDO EUV channels were several times larger, and the GOES X-rays increased over a factor of 30 for the harder band. Only a modest delay is found between the onset of flare ribbons of a nearby sympathetic flare and the main flare ribbons observed in these narrow-band filters. The peak flare emission occurs within a few seconds for the Ca~K, Mg, and H$α$ bands. Time-distance techniques find propagation velocities of $\approx$60 km/s for the main flare ribbon and as high as 300 km/s for smaller regions we attribute to filament eruptions. This result and delays and velocities observed with SDO ($\approx$100 km/s) for different coronal heights agree well with the simple model of energy propagation versus height, although a more detailed model for the flaring solar atmosphere is needed. And finally, we detected marginal quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) in the 40--60 second range for the Ca~K, Mg and H$α$ bands, and such measurements are important for disentangling the detailed flare-physics.

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arXiv2018

Association between Tornadoes and Instability of Hosting Prominence

We studied the dynamics of all prominence tornadoes detected by the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly from 2011 January 01 to December 31. In total, 361 events were identified during the whole year, but only 166 tornadoes were traced until the end of their lifetime. Out of 166 tornadoes, 80 (48%) triggered CMEs in hosting prominences, 83 (50%) caused failed coronal mass ejections (CMEs) or strong internal motion in the prominences, and only 3 (2%) finished their lifetimes without any observed activity. Therefore, almost all prominence tornadoes lead to the destabilization of their hosting prominences and half of them trigger CMEs. Consequently, prominence tornadoes may be used as precursors for CMEs and hence for space weather predictions.

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arXiv2017

H$α$ and H$β$ emission in a C3.3 solar flare: comparison between observations and simulations

The Hydrogen Balmer series is a basic radiative loss channel from the flaring solar chromosphere. We report here on the analysis of an extremely rare set of simultaneous observations of a solar flare in the H$α$ and H$β$ lines at high spatial and temporal resolution, which were acquired at the Dunn Solar Telescope. Images of the C3.3 flare (SOL2014-04-22T15:22) made at various wavelengths along the H$α$ line profile by the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer (IBIS) and in the H$β$ with the Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) broadband imager are analyzed to obtain the intensity evolution. The H$α$ and H$β$ intensity excesses in three identified flare footpoints are well correlated in time. We examine the ratio of H$α$ to H$β$ flare excess, which was proposed by previous authors as a possible diagnostic of the level of electron beam energy input. In the stronger footpoints, the typical value of the the H$α$/H$β$ intensity ratio observed is $\sim 0.4-0.5$, in broad agreement with values obtained from a RADYN non-LTE simulation driven by an electron beam with parameters constrained (as far as possible) by observation. The weaker footpoint has a larger H$α$/H$β$ ratio, again consistent with a RADYN simulation but with a smaller energy flux. The H$α$ line profiles observed have a less prominent central reversal than is predicted by the RADYN results, but can be brought into agreement if the H$α$-emitting material has a filling factor of around 0.2--0.3.

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