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A. Pevtsov (Montana State U.)
It has been shown albeit in a limited dataset that the transequatorial loops are observed preferentially between active regions of same chirality. One can argue that such selectivity is a natural result of the reconnection, which simply "averages" helicities of involved regions and redistribute new chirality over the system. According to this scenario, the reconnected regions may have either same or opposite chirality before the reconnection. On the other hand, the reconnection rate depends on the magnetic helicity of involved fields. In presence of electric currents, the magnetic fields of same chirality are more likely to reconnect (electric currents closure argument), and hence the magnetic field should have same chirality before the reconnection. Which of these scenarios takes place on the Sun? We are using Yohkoh soft X-ray observations and HSP vector magnetograms to study a history of few selected areas on the Sun, where the transequatorial interconnecting regions were observed. In several cases, we find a clear indication of pre-existing connection between the areas before the active regions were formed. The distribution of the magnetic field implies a close relation between the interconnecting regions and complexes of activity. We speculate that the fact that the magnetic field has the same chirality within a complex of activity implies a long-term organization of the dynamo flows in the convection zone.
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