Solar transition region and coronal response to heating rate perturbations

Abstract

The solar transition region is in a dynamic state characterized by impulsively upflowing plasma and continually downflowing plasma. Using numerical simulations, the conjecture that the areas of downflowing plasma are simply the base regions of coronal loops in which the heating rate is gradually decreasing and the areas of upflowing plasma are the base regions of coronal loops in which the heating rate is gradually increasing is examined. The calculations suggest that gradually reducing or increasing the heating in a magnetic flux tube will not result in plasma motions that are similar to those that are observed at high spatial resolution in the UV