Energy buildup in coronal magnetic flux tubes

A time-dependent two-dimensional MHD simulation is used to study the response of the magnetic field in coronal loops to photospheric motion. From an initially uniform field, circular sections of the ends of the loop are slowly rotated to represent the photospheric motion. The evolution of the field and flow is characterized by three phases: (1) a phase of negligible kinetic energy where the current and field are predominantly parallel; (2) a phase where the field twist increases, the axial field at and near the axis increases, and the axial field decreases in two cylindrical regions away from the axis; and (3) a phase in which a significant portion of the field makes several rotations at large radii, with a corresponding reducton in the axial field to a few percent of the initial value.