Data-driven MHD simulation of the 2011-02-15 CME event of AR 11158

We present a boundary data-driven magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) simulation of the 2011-02-15 coronal mass ejection (CME) event of Active Region (AR) NOAA 11158. The simulation is driven at the lower boundary with an electric field derived based on the normal magnetic field and the vertical electric current measured from the HMI vector magnetograms. The simulation shows the build-up of a pre-eruption coronal magnetic field close to that obtained from the nonlinear force-free field extrapolation just before the onset of the observed X-class flare, and it subsequently develops multiple eruptions. The morphology of the current-carrying field lines shows good qualitative agreement with the brightening loops of the SDO/AIA hot channel images. We find that the pre-eruption sigmoidal fields are strongly sheared fields with no dipped field lines, until the onset of the eruption where an erupting magnetic flux rope containing dipped field lines forms because of the tether-cutting reconnection. Our simulation results suggest that the derived electric field based on the observed vertical electric current is a promising way to drive MHD simulations to establish the realistic pre-eruption coronal magnetic field and model its transition to dynamic eruption.