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D. Longcope, C. Kankelborg (Montana State University)
Magnetic reconnection is believed to play an important role in the energetics of the solar corona including flaring and quiescent heating in active regions. It is also implicated as the energy source for X-ray bright points which occur in coronal holes and in the quiet Sun. X-ray bright points are the ideal feature in which to study magnetic reconnection since they have relatively simple geometry: two isolated sources of photospheric flux approaching one another. By assuming that all power comes from the process of forging new field lines to connect the approaching poles we are lead to a simple quantitative model for an X-ray bright point. To test the model the predicted energy release is used in a dynamical simulation of loop plasma evolution. The results of this simulation are used to sythesize images in the EUV for direct comparison to a TRACE observation. A second test of the model is provided by a statistical study of X-ray bright points and bipoles in archival SOHO data. The results of this survey support several predictions of the model. Finally, the model is applied to a theoretical distribution of flux elements to yield a model for heating of the quiet Sun. This produces expressions for the density of X-ray bright points and total heat flux.