RECONNECTION-DRIVEN CURRENT FILAMENTATION IN SOLAR ARCADES

We present numerical simulations of the interaction between two bipole s through magnetic reconnection in the lower solar atmosphere, a proce ss believed to be the origin of many manifestations, of solar activity . The present work differs from previous studies in that the field is sheared asymmetrically and that the bipoles have markedly unequal fiel d strengths. Our key discovery is that, under such common circumstance s, reconnection leads to an apparently random distribution of shear in the magnetic field, resulting in numerous current sheets throughout t he volume occupied by the reconnected field lines. To our knowledge, t his is the first example of a numerical simulation yielding current sh eets over a large but well-defined volume of the corona, resembling a coronal loop in profile. In this Letter, we demonstrate this process o f reconnection-driven current filamentation and discuss ramifications for coronal heating and structure.