Energy release and transfer in solar flares: simulations of three-dimensional reconnection

Using three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations we investigate energy release and transfer in a three-dimensional extension of the standard two-ribbon flare picture. In this scenario reconnection is initiated in a thin current sheet (suggested to form below a departing coronal mass ejection) above a bipolar magnetic field. Two cases are contrasted: an initially force-free current sheet (low beta) and a finite-pressure current sheet (high beta). The energy conversion process from reconnect ion consists of incoming Poynting flux (from the release of magnetic energy) turned into up-and downgoing Poynting flux, enthalpy flux and bulk kinetic energy flux. In the low-beta case, the outgoing Poynting flux is the dominant contribution, whereas the outgoing enthalpy flux dominates in the high-beta case. The bulk kinetic energy flux is only a minor contribution, particularly in the downward direction. The dominance of the downgoing Poynting flux in the low-beta case is consistent with an alternative to the thick target electron beam model for solar flare energy transport, suggested recently by Fletcher and Hudson. For plausible characteristic parameters of the reconnecting field configuration, we obtain energy release time scales and and energy output rates that compare favorably with those inferred from observations for the impulsive phase of flares.