Definition of the Alfvén mode in inhomogeneous magnetic field

The article is methodological and defines the concept of the linear Alfvén mode. There are two definitions — electrodynamic and hydrodynamic. In the former, the Alfvén mode is considered a wave with a potential transverse electric field. In the latter, waves are more often identified with the Alfvén mode, plasma motion in which is purely vortex. While these definitions are equivalent for homogeneous plasma, they are incompatible if the field line curvature is taken into account: if the transverse electric field is purely potential, the plasma speed has not only a vortex component, but also a potential one, and vice versa. The electrodynamic and hydrodynamic definitions are equivalent only if the wave electric field completely lacks a component along the binormal to the external magnetic field. However, such waves do not exist in nature

Corrugation instability of a coronal arcade

AbstractWe analyse the behaviour of linear magnetohydrodynamic perturbations of a coronal arcade modelled by a half-cylinder with an azimuthal magnetic field and non-uniform radial profiles of the plasma pressure, temperature, and the field. Attention is paid to the perturbations with short longitudinal (in the direction along the arcade) wavelengths. The radial structure of the perturbations, either oscillatory or evanescent, is prescribed by the radial profiles of the equilibrium quantities. Conditions for the corrugation instability of the arcade are determined. It is established that the instability growth rate increases with decreases in the longitudinal wavelength and the radial wave number. In the unstable mode, the radial perturbations of the magnetic field are stronger than the longitudinal perturbations, creating an almost circularly corrugated rippling of the arcade in the longitudinal direction. For coronal conditions, the growth time of the instability is shorter than one minute, decreasing with an increase in the temperature. Implications of the developed theory for the dynamics of coronal active regions are discussed

Magnetohydrodynamic Oscillations in the Solar Corona and Earth's Magnetosphere: Towards Consolidated Understanding

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillatory processes in di�erent plasma systems, such as the corona of the Sun and the Earth's magnetosphere show interesting similarities and di�erences, which so far received little attention and remain underexploited. The successful commissioning within the past ten years of SDO, Hinode, STEREO and THEMIS spacecraft, in combination with matured analysis of data from earlier spacecraft (Wind, SOHO, ACE, Cluster, TRACE and RHESSI) makes it very timely to survey the breadth of observations giving evidence for MHD oscillatory processes in solar and space plasmas, and state-of-the-art theoretical modelling. The paper reviews several important topics, such as Alfv�enic resonances and mode conversion; MHD waveguides, such as the magnetotail, coronal loops, coronal streamers; mechanisms for periodicities produced in energy releases during substorms and solar flares, possibility of Alfv�enic resonators along open �eld lines; possible drivers of MHD waves; diagnostics of plasmas with MHD waves; interaction of MHD waves with partly-ionised boundaries (ionosphere and chromosphere). The review is mainly oriented to specialists in magnetospheric physics and solar physics, but not familiar with speci�cs of the adjacent research �elds

Magnetohydrodynamic oscillations in the solar corona and Earth's magnetosphere : towards consolidated understanding

Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) oscillatory processes in different plasma systems, such as the corona of the Sun and the Earth’s magnetosphere, show interesting similarities and differences, which so far received little attention and remain underexploited. The successful commissioning within the past ten years of THEMIS, Hinode, STEREO and SDO spacecraft, in combination with matured analysis of data from earlier spacecraft (Wind, SOHO, ACE, Cluster, TRACE and RHESSI) makes it very timely to survey the breadth of observations giving evidence for MHD oscillatory processes in solar and space plasmas, and state-of-the-art theoretical modelling. The paper reviews several important topics, such as Alfv´enic resonances and mode conversion; MHD waveguides, such as the magnetotail, coronal loops, coronal streamers; mechanisms for periodicities produced in energy releases during substorms and solar flares, possibility of Alfv´enic resonators along open field lines; possible drivers of MHD waves; diagnostics of plasmas with MHD waves; interaction of MHD waves with partlyionised boundaries (ionosphere and chromosphere). The review is mainly oriented to specialists in magnetospheric physics and solar physics, but not familiar with specifics of the adjacent research fields

Theory of azimuthally small-scale hydromagnetic waves in the axisymmetric magnetosphere with finite plasma pressure

The structure of monochromatic MHD-waves with large azimuthal wave number m&#x226B;1 in a two-dimensional model of the magnetosphere has been investigated. A joint action of the field line curvature, finite plasma pressure, and transversal equilibrium current leads to the phenomenon that waves, standing along the field lines, are travelling across the magnetic shells. The wave propagation region, the transparency region, is bounded by the poloidal magnetic surface on one side and by the resonance surface on the other. In their meaning these surfaces correspond to the usual and singular turning points in the WKB-approximation, respectively. The wave is excited near the poloidal surface and propagates toward the resonance surface where it is totally absorbed due to the ionospheric dissipation. There are two transparency regions in a finite-beta magnetosphere, one of them corresponds to the Alfvén mode and the other to the slow magnetosound mode.Key words. Magnetosphere · Azimuthally small-scale waves · MHD waves</p