A data-driven magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the 2011 February 15 coronal mass ejection from active region NOAA 11158

The simulation is driven at the lower boundary with an electric field derived from the normal magnetic field and the vertical electric current measured from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) Helioseismic Magnetic Imager vector magnetograms. The simulation shows the buildup of a pre-eruption coronal magnetic field that is close to the nonlinear force-free field extrapolation, and it subsequently develops multiple eruptions.

The sheared/twisted field lines of the pre-eruption magnetic field show qualitative agreement with the brightening loops in the SDO Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) hot passband images. We find that the eruption is initiated by the tether-cutting reconnection in a highly sheared field above the central polarity inversion line and a magnetic flux rope with dipped field lines forms during the eruption. The modeled erupting magnetic field evolves to develop a complex structure containing two distinct flux ropes and produces an outgoing double-shell feature consistent with the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory B/Extreme UltraViolet Imager observation of the CME.