Constraints on Coronal Mass Ejection Evolution from in Situ Observations of Ionic Charge States

Abstract

We present a novel procedure for deriving the physical properties of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the corona. Our methodology uses in situ measurements of ionic charge states of C, O, Si, and Fe in the heliosphere and interprets them in the context of a model for the early evolution of interplanetary CME (ICME) plasma, between 2 and 5 R _sun. We find that the data are best fit by an evolution that consists of an initial heating of the plasma, followed by an expansion that ultimately results in cooling. The heating profile is consistent with a compression of coronal plasma due to flare reconnection jets and an expansion cooling due to the ejection, as expected from the standard CME/flare model. The observed frozen-in ionic charge states reflect this time history and, therefore, provide important constraints for the heating and expansion timescales, as well as the maximum temperature the CME plasma is heated to during its eruption. Furthermore, our analysis places severe limits on the possible density of CME plasma in the corona. We discuss the implications of our results for CME models and for future analysis of ICME plasma composition.