  Using an efficient magnetic complexity index in the active-region solar
photosphere, we quantify the preflare strength of the photospheric magnetic
polarity inversion lines in 23 eruptive active regions with flare/CME/ICME
events tracked all the way from the Sun to the Earth. We find that active
regions with more intense polarity inversion lines host statistically stronger
flares and faster, more impulsively accelerated, CMEs. No significant
correlation is found between the strength of the inversion lines and the flare
soft X-ray rise times, the ICME transit times, and the peak $Dst indices of the
induced geomagnetic storms. Corroborating these and previous results, we
speculate on a possible interpretation for the connection between source active
regions, flares, and CMEs. Further work is needed to validate this concept and
uncover its physical details.
