SADs are widely accepted to be byproducts of magnetic reconnection, the physical process that drives solar flares by releasing energy stored in the Sun's magnetic field. Reconnection reconfigures the local magnetic field surrounding the flare site from a higher-energy (non-potential, stressed) state to a lower-energy (potential) state. This process is facilitated by the development of a current sheet, often preceded by or in tandem with a coronal mass ejection. As the field is being reconfigured, newly formed magnetic field lines are swept away from the reconnection site, producing outflows both toward and away from the solar surface, respectively referred to as downflows and upflows. SADs are believed to be related to reconnection downflows that perturb the hot, dense plasma that collects above flare arcades, but precisely how SADs form is uncertain and is an area of active research.