To understand what physical processes are responsible for the "knot" and its becoming "untied" or unwinding, in a spiral vortex morphology, it is first necessary to define the physical structure the "knot" is embedded in.
The "knot" is embedded in the the heliosphere and the heliosphere, the protective bubble in which the Earth and other planets reside and boundary between our solar system and interstellar space, is a boundary between two bodies of plasma, each causing its own magnetic field, with different physical characteristics.
“The moving plasma, i.e., charged particles flows, are currents that produce self-magnetic fields, however weak.” — Dr. Anthony L. Peratt, Los Alamos National Laboratory, retired
“An electromotive force [mathematical equation] giving rise to electrical currents in conducting media is produced wherever a relative perpendicular motion of plasma and magnetic fields exists.” — Dr. Anthony L. Peratt, Los Alamos National Laboratory, retired
When two plasma bodies, each producing its own magnetic field, come into contact, pressing the two bodies of plasma and their respective magnetic fields together, the result is an Electric Double Layer:
In general, double layers (which may be curved rather than flat) separate regions of plasma with quite different characteristics. — Wikipedia entry for Double Layer (plasma)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_layer_(plasma)
The two bodies of plasma on each side of the heliosphere boundary have different physical characteristics.
A plasma Electric Double Layer can be considered a physical object with specific physical processes, per Hannes Alfven.
A double layer is a structure in a plasma and consists of two parallel layers with opposite electrical charge. The sheets of charge cause a strong electric field and a correspondingly sharp change in voltage (electrical potential) across the double layer. Ions and electrons which enter the double layer are accelerated, decelerated, or reflected by the electric field. -- Wikipedia entry for Double Layer (plasma)
In this specific case, the heliosphere boundary, the Double Layer encircles the solar system in a "bubble".
Mainstream astrophysics wrongly identifies the Electric Double Layer process as so-called "magnetic reconnection".
Again, to understand this "knot" and its becoming "untied", it is crucial to correctly identify the structure and understand the structure's physical dynamics. To that end, the following two sets of scientific papers are presented to support the assertion the heliosphere is an Electric Double Layer:
The following scientific papers stand for the proposition that so-called “magnetic reconnection” is actually the Electric Double Layer process.
Scientific papers presented:
Filamentary Structures in U-Shaped Double Layers, 2005
http://adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-b ... 22c9c05019
Quote from the above paper:
Observations from the Polar and FAST satellites have revealed a host of intriguing features of the auroral accelerations processes in the upward current region (UCR). These features include: (i) large-amplitude parallel and perpendicular fluctuating as well as quasi-static electric fields in density cavities, (ii) fairly large-amplitude unipolar parallel electric fields like in a strong double layer (DL), (iii) variety of wave modes, (iv) counter-streaming of upward going ion beams and downward accelerated electrons, (v) horizontally corrugated bottom region of the potential structures (PS), in which electron and ion accelerations occur, (vi) filamentary ion beams in the corrugated PS, and (vii) both upward and downward moving narrow regions of parallel electric fields, inferred from the frequency drifts of the auroral kilometric radiations.
Parallel electric fields in the upward current region of the aurora: Indirect and direct observations, published 2002 Physics of Plasma
http://www.space.irfu.se/exjobb/2003_er ... _ergun.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
In this article we present electric field, magnetic field, and charged particle observations from the upward current region of the aurora focusing on the structure of electric fields at the boundary between the auroral cavity and the ionosphere…These observations suggest that the parallel electric fields at the boundary between the auroral cavity and the ionosphere are self-consistently supported as oblique double layers.
Let’s now compare the above Electric Double Layers papers with the following so-called “magnetic reconnection” scientific papers:
Magnetopause reconnection impact parameters from multiple spacecraft magnetic field measurements published 30 October 2009
http://www.leif.org/EOS/2009GL040228.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
Discrepancies between the measured components of E [electric field] and the corresponding components of v B [magnetic field] after a careful error analysis signify a nonideal electric field. We intend to show in a subsequent paper that the Cluster electric field and particle flow data for this event satisfy the criteria for a parallel electric field…
With the instantaneous coordinate system and the parallel electric field established, one can place particle moments, such as velocities, pressures, and temperatures, as well as magnetic and electric field measurements…
Sufficiently accurate ion and electron moments and electric field measurements within this coordinate system delineate ion and electron diffusion regions.
Recent in-situ observations of magnetic reconnection in near-Earth space, published 11 October 2008
http://www.leif.org/EOS/2008GL035297.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
Figure 1. “(bottom [schematic, page 2 of 7] ) : “Zoom-in on the region around the X-line, with the ion and electron diffusion regions indicated by the shading and the rectangular box, respectively. The quadrupolar Hall magnetic field is pointing in and out of the plane of the figure. The Hall electric field [perpendicular electric field] is shown by the red arrows, while the blue arrows mark the oppositely directed jets in the outflow regions. Note that entry and acceleration occur all the way along the current sheet. Figure courtesy of Marit Oieroset.
The “X” cross section discussed in these “magnetic reconnection” papers are where electric and magnetic fields cross, just as Hannes Alfven described in his empirical laboratory work on Electric Double Layers and, is central to the acceleration of the particles in both sets of papers, Electric Double Layers and “magnetic reconnection”, respectively.
Collisionless Magnetic Field Reconnection From First Principles: What It Can and Cannot Do
http://solarmuri.ssl.berkeley.edu/~wels ... onn_v4.pdf
Quote from the above paper:
The physics of reconnection depends on the electric field component out of the plane of Fig. 1 at the center of the figure, which is sometimes called the tangential electric field.
If it is zero [the Electric field], the two plasmas flow around each other into or out of the plane of the figure because there is no ExB/B2 flow in the plane of the figure in this central region.
On the other hand, if the tangential electric field is non-zero, the plasmas continue flowing towards each other into the central region of the figure and magnetic field reconnection occurs as discussed below.
When a reader compares the two sets of scientific papers and then compares the specific physical elements observed & measured, magnetic fields, electric fields & charged particles’ location, motion, direction, and velocity (currents) & charged particles' location of acceleration, it becomes clear what mainstream astrophysics has labeled "magnetic reconnection" is actually an Electric Double Layer. Obviously, this requires an electromagnetic framework of analysis & interpretation as presented in the Electric Double Layer process as stated by Hannes Alfven.
So, now that the solar system boundary, the heliosphere, has been identified as an Electric Double Layer, the second step is to identify the physical processes of the "knot" and what physical processes are responsible for its becoming "untied".
The change in the “knot” embedded in the ribbon strongly suggests a change in flows in charged particles initiated by forces either outside or inside the heliospheric boundary.
A charged particle is one that has coulomb force, also known as an “electric force”, which can be attraction between opposite charged particles or can be repulsion between similarly charged particles.
Interestingly enough a stationary charged particle does not cause a magnetic field.
Magnetic fields are dependent on not just charged particles, but are also dependent on the motion of those charged particles.
In other words, magnetic fields are a function of moving charged particles.
The “knot” untangles or unwinds into a spiral vortex structure.
This suggests the possibility that the “knot” is actually a plasmoid.
Per Wikipedia entry for plasmoid:
A plasmoid is a coherent structure of plasma and magnetic fields. Plasmoids have been proposed to explain natural phenomena such as ball lightning, magnetic bubbles in the magnetosphere, and objects in cometary tails, in the solar wind, in the solar atmosphere, and in the heliospheric current sheet. Plasmoids produced in the laboratory include Field-Reversed Configurations, Spheromaks, and the dense plasma focus.
The word plasmoid was coined in 1956 by Winston H. Bostick (1916-1991) to mean a ‘plasma-magnetic entity’:
The plasma is emitted not as an amorphous blob, but in the form of a torus. We shall take the liberty of calling this toroidal structure a plasmoid, a word which means plasma-magnetic entity. The word plasmoid will be employed as a generic term for all plasma-magnetic entities.
Bostick wrote:
Plasmoids appear to be plasma cylinders elongated in the direction of the magnetic field. Plasmoids possess a measurable magnetic moment, a measurable translational speed, a transverse electric field, and a measurable size. Plasmoids can interact with each other, seemingly by reflecting off one another. Their orbits can also be made to curve toward one another. Plasmoids can be made to spiral to a stop if projected into a gas at about 10−3 mm Hg pressure. Plasmoids can also be made to smash each other into fragments. There is some scant evidence to support the hypothesis that they undergo fission and possess spin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmoid
So, perhaps, this is a plasmoid which was first observed as a “knot” then “untangled” into a vortex spiral, electric current flowing as a sheet in the plane of the spiral.
This could also suggest the plasmoid “relaxed” or electromagnetic tension decreased, further suggesting a decrease in electromagnetic energy introduced into the plasmoid.
An immediate objection to the above analysis is that the "knot" consists of energized neutral atoms (ENA's), not charged particles. Fare enough, but the scientifically verified process of Marklund convection can answer this objection in all respects.
Marklund convection (after Göran Marklund) is a natural plasma convection process that takes place in filamentary currents, that may cause chemical separation. It may occur within a plasma with an associated electric field, that causes convection of ions and electrons inward towards a central twisting filamentary axis. A temperature gradient within the plasma will also cause chemical separation based on different ionization potentials. -- Plasma Universe.com
http://www.plasma-universe.com/index.ph ... convection
The mechanism provides an efficient means to accumulate matter within a plasma. In a partially ionized plasma, electromagnetic forces act on the non-ionized material indirectly through the viscosity between the ionized and non-ionized material.
Alfvén writes that:
".. elements with the lowest ionization potential are brought closest to the axis, and form concentric hollow cylinders whose radii increase with ionization potential [..] The drift of ionized matter from the surroundings into the rope means that the rope acts as an ion pump, which evacuates the surroundings . Regions with extremely low densities can be produced in this way ."
The Plasma Universe.com entry goes on:
Marklund clarifies:
In my paper in Nature the plasma convects radially inwards, with the normal E x B/B2 velocity, towards the center of a cylindrical flux tube. During this convection inwards, the different chemical constituents of the plasma, each having its specific ionization potential, enter into a progressively cooler region. The plasma constituents will recombine and become neutral, and thus no longer under the influence of the electromagnetic forcing. The ionization potentials will thus determine where the different species will be deposited, or stopped in their motion."
To highlight the two most relevant quotes from the entry:
In a partially ionized plasma, electromagnetic forces act on the non-ionized material indirectly through the viscosity between the ionized and non-ionized material.
The plasma constituents will recombine and become neutral, and thus no longer under the influence of the electromagnetic forcing. The ionization potentials will thus determine where the different species will be deposited, or stopped in their motion.
http://www.plasma-universe.com/index.ph ... convection
So, even though the energized neutral atoms (ENA's) constitute the ribbon and the "knot", the dynamics of Marklund convection suggest these neutral atoms are under the influence of elelctromagnetic forces.
And the "knot" is a plasmoid embedded in an Electric Double Layer, and the "knot" unwinding into a spiral vortex also possibly fits with Marklund convection because the dynamics of Marklund convection can result in sprial, vortex morphology.
It [Marklund convection] may occur within a plasma with an associated electric field, that causes convection of ions and electrons inward towards a central twisting filamentary axis.
Now, of course, the next question is where the electromagnetic energy feeding the ribbon is coming from: From inside the heliosphere or from outside the heliospheric boundary, the interstellar magnetic field?
You crack me up.
