A Spatio-temporal Description of the Abrupt Changes in the Photospheric Magnetic and Lorentz-Force Vectors During the 15 February 2011 X2.2 Flare

The active region NOAA 11158 produced the first X-class flare of Solar Cycle 24, an X2.2 flare at 01:44 UT on 15 February 2011. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite produces 12-minute, 0.5′′ pixel−1 vector magnetograms. Here we analyze a series of these data covering a 12-hour interval centered at the time of this flare. We describe the spatial distributions of the photospheric magnetic changes associated with the flare, including the abrupt changes in the field vector, vertical electric current and Lorentz-force vector acting on the solar interior. We also describe these parameters’ temporal evolution. The abrupt magnetic changes were concentrated near the neutral line and in two neighboring sunspots. Near the neutral line, the field vectors became stronger and more horizontal during the flare and the shear increased. This was due to an increase in strength of the horizontal field components near the neutral line, most significant in the horizontal component parallel to the neutral line but the perpendicular component also increased in strength. The vertical component did not show a significant, permanent overall change at the neutral line. The increase in field strength at the neutral line was accompanied by a compensating decrease in field strength in the surrounding volume. In the two sunspots near the neutral line the integrated azimuthal field abruptly decreased during the flare but this change was permanent in only one of the spots. There was a large, abrupt, downward vertical Lorentz-force change acting on the solar interior during the flare, consistent with results of past analyses and recent theoretical work. The horizontal Lorentz force acted in opposite directions along each side of neutral line, with the two sunspots at each end subject to abrupt torsional forces relaxing their magnetic twist. These shearing forces were consistent with a contraction of field and decrease of shear near the neutral line, whereas the field itself became more sheared as a result of the field collapsing towards the neutral line from the surrounding volume. The Lorentz forces acting on the atmospheric volume above the photosphere were equal and opposite.