3D Non-equilibrium Ionization and Spectroscopic Modeling of Coronal Mass Ejections. II. CME Energy Budget

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) release between ≈10³⁰ and 10³³ erg of energy into the corona; however, their detailed energy budget is difficult to constrain. In the first paper of the series, we used a magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) model to simulate the 2008 April 9 CME (“Cartwheel CME”) and its Hinode/Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer observations at 1.1 R_⊙, performing a detailed analysis of the thermodynamic evolution during the initial acceleration period. This is the first global MHD simulation of a CME to include self-consistent prediction of charge states and nonequilibrium ionization spectra. In this second paper, we extend the results to investigate the energy budget evolution during the Cartwheel CME’s initial acceleration period by analyzing the 3D global structure and tracking multiple plasma parcels to examine their energy evolution. Early in the eruption, 70% of the magnetic energy stored in the flux rope either dissipates to the thermal or is converted to kinetic energy, while about 30% of the energy is lost primarily to radiation. The protons are preferentially heated in the sheath by increased Alfvén wave energy dissipation. An extended current sheet forms out to 1.6 R_⊙, resulting in reconnection, which drives a hot jet along the backside of the flux rope. The prominence material remains cold beyond 10 R_⊙, due to large radiative cooling rates.