219 research outputs found
Coronal heating distribution due to low-frequency wave-driven turbulence
The heating of the lower solar corona is examined using numerical simulations
and theoretical models of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in open magnetic
regions. A turbulent energy cascade to small length scales perpendicular to the
mean magnetic field can be sustained by driving with low-frequency Alfven waves
reflected from mean density and magnetic field gradients. This mechanism
deposits energy efficiently in the lower corona, and we show that the spatial
distribution of the heating is determined by the mean density through the
Alfven speed profile. This provides a robust heating mechanism that can explain
observed high coronal temperatures and accounts for the significant heating
(per unit volume) distribution below two solar radius needed in models of the
origin of the solar wind. The obtained heating per unit mass on the other hand
is much more extended indicating that the heating on a per particle basis
persists throughout all the lower coronal region considered here.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Coronal heating in coupled photosphere-chromosphere-coronal systems: turbulence and leakage
Coronal loops act as resonant cavities for low frequency fluctuations that
are transmitted from the deeper layers of the solar atmosphere and are
amplified in the corona, triggering nonlinear interactions. However trapping is
not perfect, some energy leaks down to the chromosphere, thus limiting the
turbulence development and the associated heating. We consider the combined
effects of turbulence and leakage in determining the energy level and
associated heating rate in models of coronal loops which include the
chromosphere and transition region. We use a piece-wise constant model for the
Alfven speed and a Reduced MHD - Shell model to describe the interplay between
turbulent dynamics in the direction perpendicular to the mean field and
propagation along the field. Turbulence is sustained by incoming fluctuations
which are equivalent, in the line-tied case, to forcing by the photospheric
shear flows. While varying the turbulence strength, we compare systematically
the average coronal energy level (E) and dissipation rate (D) in three models
with increasing complexity: the classical closed model, the semi-open corona
model, and the corona-chromosphere (or 3-layer) model, the latter two models
allowing energy leakage. We find that:
(i) Leakage always plays a role (even for strong turbulence), E and D are
systematically lower than in the line-tied model. (ii) E is close to the
resonant prediction, i.e., assuming effective turbulent correlation time longer
than the Alfven coronal crossing time (Ta). (iii) D is close to the value given
by the ratio of photospheric energy divided by Ta (iv) The coronal spectra
exibits an inertial range with 5/3 spectral slope, and a large scale peak of
trapped resonant modes that inhibit nonlinear couplings. (v) In the realistic
3-layer model, the two-component spectrum leads to a damping time equal to the
Kolmogorov time reduced by a factor u_rms/Va_coronaComment: 15 pages, 15 figures, Accepted for publication in A&
Resonantly damped surface and body MHD waves in a solar coronal slab with oblique propagation
The theory of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in solar coronal slabs in a
zero- configuration and for parallel propagation of waves does not allow
the existence of surface waves. When oblique propagation of perturbations is
considered both surface and body waves are able to propagate. When the
perpendicular wave number is larger than a certain value, the body kink mode
becomes a surface wave. In addition, a sausage surface mode is found below the
internal cut-off frequency. When non-uniformity in the equilibrium is included,
surface and body modes are damped due to resonant absorption. In this paper,
first, a normal-mode analysis is performed and the period, the damping rate,
and the spatial structure of eigenfunctions are obtained. Then, the
time-dependent problem is solved, and the conditions under which one or the
other type of mode is excited are investigated.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Solar Physic
Alfv\'en Reflection and Reverberation in the Solar Atmosphere
Magneto-atmospheres with Alfv\'en speed [a] that increases monotonically with
height are often used to model the solar atmosphere, at least out to several
solar radii. A common example involves uniform vertical or inclined magnetic
field in an isothermal atmosphere, for which the Alfv\'en speed is exponential.
We address the issue of internal reflection in such atmospheres, both for
time-harmonic and for transient waves. It is found that a mathematical boundary
condition may be devised that corresponds to perfect absorption at infinity,
and, using this, that many atmospheres where a(x) is analytic and unbounded
present no internal reflection of harmonic Alfv\'en waves. However, except for
certain special cases, such solutions are accompanied by a wake, which may be
thought of as a kind of reflection. For the initial-value problem where a
harmonic source is suddenly switched on (and optionally off), there is also an
associated transient that normally decays with time as O(t-1) or O(t-1 ln t),
depending on the phase of the driver. Unlike the steady-state harmonic
solutions, the transient does reflect weakly. Alfv\'en waves in the solar
corona driven by a finite-duration train of p-modes are expected to leave such
transients.Comment: Accepted by Solar Physic
The effect of twisted magnetic field on the resonant absorption of MHD waves in coronal loops
The standing quasi modes in a cylindrical incompressible flux tube with
magnetic twist that undergoes a radial density structuring is considered in
ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). The radial structuring is assumed to be a
linearly varying density profile. Using the relevant connection formulae, the
dispersion relation for the MHD waves is derived and solved numerically to
obtain both the frequencies and damping rates of the fundamental and
first-overtone modes of both the kink (m=1) and fluting (m=2,3) waves. It was
found that a magnetic twist will increase the frequencies, damping rates and
the ratio of the oscillation frequency to the damping rate of these modes. The
period ratio P_1/P_2 of the fundamental and its first-overtone surface waves
for kink (m=1) and fluting (m=2,3) modes is lower than 2 (the value for an
untwisted loop) in the presence of twisted magnetic field. For the kink modes,
particularly, the magnetic twists B_{\phi}/B_z=0.0065 and 0.0255 can achieve
deviations from 2 of the same order of magnitude as in the observations.
Furthermore, for the fundamental kink body waves, the frequency bandwidth
increases with increasing the magnetic twist.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure
Alfvenic Heating of Protostellar Accretion Disks
We investigate the effects of heating generated by damping of Alfven waves on
protostellar accretion disks. Two mechanisms of damping are investigated,
nonlinear and turbulent, which were previously studied in stellar winds
(Jatenco-Pereira & Opher 1989a, b). For the nominal values studied, f=delta
v/v_{A}=0.002 and F=varpi/Omega_{i}=0.1, where delta v, v_{A} and varpi are the
amplitude, velocity and average frequency of the Alfven wave, respectively, and
Omega_{i} is the ion cyclotron frequency, we find that viscous heating is more
important than Alfven heating for small radii. When the radius is greater than
0.5 AU, Alfvenic heating is more important than viscous heating. Thus, even for
the relatively small value of f=0.002, Alfvenic heating can be an important
source of energy for ionizing protostellar disks, enabling angular momentum
transport to occur by the Balbus-Hawley instability.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Nonlinear effects in resonant layers in solar and space plasmas
The present paper reviews recent advances in the theory of nonlinear driven
magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves in slow and Alfven resonant layers. Simple
estimations show that in the vicinity of resonant positions the amplitude of
variables can grow over the threshold where linear descriptions are valid.
Using the method of matched asymptotic expansions, governing equations of
dynamics inside the dissipative layer and jump conditions across the
dissipative layers are derived. These relations are essential when studying the
efficiency of resonant absorption. Nonlinearity in dissipative layers can
generate new effects, such as mean flows, which can have serious implications
on the stability and efficiency of the resonance
The role of damped Alfven waves on magnetospheric accretion models of young stars
We examine the role of Alfven wave damping in heating the plasma in the
magnetic funnels of magnetospheric accretion models of young stars. We study
four different damping mechanisms of the Alfven waves: nonlinear, turbulent,
viscous-resistive and collisional. Two different possible origins for the
Alfven waves are discussed: 1) Alfven waves generated at the surface of the
star by the shock produced by the infalling matter; and 2) Alfven waves
generated locally in the funnel by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. We find
that, in general, the damping lengths are smaller than the tube length. Since
thermal conduction in the tube is not efficient, Alfven waves generated only at
the star's surface cannot heat the tube to the temperatures necessary to fit
the observations. Only for very low frequency Alfven waves ~10^{-5} the ion
cyclotron frequency, is the viscous-resistive damping length greater than the
tube length. In this case, the Alfven waves produced at the surface of the star
are able to heat the whole tube. Otherwise, local production of Alfven waves is
required to explain the observations. The turbulence level is calculated for
different frequencies for optically thin and thick media. We find that
turbulent velocities varies greatly for different damping mechanisms, reaching
\~100 km s^{-1} for the collisional damping of small frequency waves.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures, to appear in The Astrophysical Journa
Mass loading of the solar wind by a sungrazing comet
Collisionless mass loading was suggested by Biermann et al. (1967) for describing interactions between the solar wind and cometary atmospheres. Recent observations have led to an increased interest in coronal mass loading due to sungrazing comets and collisional debris of sunward migrating interplanetary dust particles. In a previous paper, we presented a 3âD MHD model of the solar corona based on the BlockâAdaptiveâTreeâSolarwindâRoeâUpwindâScheme code which includes the interaction of dust with the solar wind. We have shown the impact on the solar wind from abrupt mass loading in the coronal region. We apply the model to a sungrazing cometary source, using ejected dust dynamics to generate tailâshaped massâloading regions. Results help predict the effects on the solar wind acceleration and composition due to sungrazing comets, such as Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy). We show how these effects may be detected by the upcoming Solar Probe Plus Mission. Key Points Application of mass loading in the SWMF SC component for sungrazing comets Extension to a tail source model for mass loading due to a sungrazing comet Prediction of massâloaded solar wind parameters along a space probe pathPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108676/1/grl51967.pd
Particle scattering in turbulent plasmas with amplified wave modes
High-energy particles stream during coronal mass ejections or flares through the plasma of the solar wind. This causes instabilities, which lead to wave growth at specific resonant wave numbers, especially within shock regions. These amplified wave modes influence the turbulent scattering process significantly. In this paper, results of particle transport and scattering in turbulent plasmas with excited wave modes are presented. The method used is a hybrid simulation code, which treats the heliospheric turbulence by an incompressible magnetohydrodynamic approach separately from a kinetic particle description. Furthermore, a semi-analytical model using quasilinear theory (QLT) is compared to the numerical results. This paper aims at a more fundamental understanding and interpretation of the pitch-angle scattering coefficients. Our calculations show a good agreement of particle simulations and the QLT for broad-band turbulent spectra; for higher turbulence levels and particle beam driven plasmas, the QLT approximation gets worse. Especially the resonance gap at Ό = 0 poses a well-known problem for QLT for steep turbulence spectra, whereas test-particle computations show no problems for the particles to scatter across this region. The reason is that the sharp resonant wave-particle interactions in QLT are an oversimplification of the broader resonances in test-particle calculations, which result from nonlinear effects not included in the QLT. We emphasise the importance of these results for both numerical simulations and analytical particle transport approaches, especially the validity of the QLT.
Appendices A-D are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.or
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