Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Measurements of CO2 Fluxes at Non-Ideal Eddy Covariance Sites
Published on: June 24, 2019
Flux Rope Formation Due to Shearing and Zipper Reconnection
J Threlfall1, A W Hood1, E R Priest1
1School of Mathematics and Statistics, Mathematical Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY169SS UK.
Abstract:
Zipper reconnection has been proposed as a mechanism for creating most of the twist in the flux tubes that are present prior to eruptive flares and coronal mass ejections. We have conducted a first numerical experiment on this new regime of reconnection, where two initially untwisted parallel flux tubes are sheared and reconnected to form a large flux rope. We describe the properties of this experiment, including the linkage of magnetic flux between concentrated flux sources at the base of the simulation, the twist of the newly formed flux rope, and the conversion of mutual magnetic helicity in the sheared pre-reconnection state into the self-helicity of the newly formed flux rope.
Related Concept Videos
Electric Flux
Shearing Stress
The average shearing stress can be calculated by dividing the shear by the area of the cross-section.
Shearing Strain
Shear Diagram
First, a free-body diagram of the beam is drawn, representing all the external forces and internal reactions acting on the beam. One can calculate the reaction forces at each support by employing the equilibrium equations of force and moment. The vertical component...
Magnetic Flux
Suppose a surface is divided into elements of area dA. For each element, the component of the magnetic field that is normal to the...
Calculation of Electric Flux

