MHD MODELING OF CME AND CME INTERACTIONS IN A BI-MODAL SOLAR WIND: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF THE 20 JANUARY 2001 TWO CMES INTERACTION EVENT

摘要

Observations from SOHO and WIND reveal that coronal mass ejections (CMEs) cannibalize and deflect one another. CMEs also are accelerated and decelerated due to their interactions with the solar wind. These CME interactions with CME and with the solar wind result in producing significant differences in solar wind signatures as compared to isolated CME events. To understand these dynamical evolutionary processes, we have constructed a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation model based on a flux-rope and streamer model including bi-modal solar wind to investigate the physical processes of CME interactions. Specifically, the January 20, 2001 CME-CME interaction event recorded by SOHO/LASCO/C2/C3 are used to guide this simulation study. The results showed that CME cannibalization is caused by magnetic reconnection. The CME's acceleration and deceleration are caused by solar wind and the CME's deflection of one another.