Magnetic helicity injection and velocity characteristics of rotating sunspots

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dc.contributor.advisorAlexander, David
dc.creatorZhu, Chunming
dc.date.accessioned2013-03-08T00:40:33Z
dc.date.available2013-03-08T00:40:33Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.description.abstractThis thesis presents calculations of the magnetic helicity injection due to rotating sunspots and a determination of the characteristics of the rotating sunspots in the active regions with simple magnetic configurations. Four active regions are investigated to study the relationship between rotating sunspots and magnetic helicity. The observations indicate that significantly more helicity is injected during the period of rotation in polarities with strong magnetic field. This may be a result of the emergence of a magnetic flux rope from below the solar surface. Moreover, our preliminary study on a large sample of 90 active regions shows that the level of flaring activity increases with the rate of helicity injection. Finally, a statistical study is carried out to determine the relation between rotating sunspots and the emergence of magnetic flux tubes. Among 82 active regions which exhibit flux emergence, 93% are associated with rotating sunspots. Among 50 active regions without well-defined flux emergence, 60% of sunspots are observed to be rotating, though relatively slowly. In addition, we find that sense of the rotation (i.e., clockwise or counter-clockwise) of the sunspots shows a weak hemispherical tendency.
dc.format.extent85 p.en_US
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.callnoTHESIS PHYS. 2011 ZHU
dc.identifier.citationZhu, Chunming. "Magnetic helicity injection and velocity characteristics of rotating sunspots." (2011) Master’s Thesis, Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70521">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/70521</a>.
dc.identifier.digitalZhuCen_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/70521
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsCopyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder.
dc.subjectPure sciences
dc.subjectAtoms
dc.subjectSubatomic particles
dc.titleMagnetic helicity injection and velocity characteristics of rotating sunspots
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialText
thesis.degree.departmentPhysics
thesis.degree.disciplineNatural Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorRice University
thesis.degree.levelMasters
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science
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