NONLINEAR PROPAGATION OF ALFVEN WAVES DRIVEN BY OBSERVED PHOTOSPHERIC MOTIONS: APPLICATION TO THE CORONAL HEATING AND SPICULE FORMATION

Journal Article · Sat Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/710/2/1857· OSTI ID:21394401

Matsumoto, Takuma; Shibata, Kazunari ^[1]

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1. Kwasan and Hida Observatories, Kyoto University, Yamashina-ku, Kyoto, 607-8417 (Japan)

We have performed MHD simulations of Alfven wave propagation along an open flux tube in the solar atmosphere. In our numerical model, Alfven waves are generated by the photospheric granular motion. As the wave generator, we used a derived temporal spectrum of the photospheric granular motion from G-band movies of Hinode/Solar Optical Telescope. It is shown that the total energy flux at the corona becomes larger and the transition region's height becomes higher in the case when we use the observed spectrum rather than the white/pink noise spectrum as the wave generator. This difference can be explained by the Alfven wave resonance between the photosphere and the transition region. After performing Fourier analysis on our numerical results, we have found that the region between the photosphere and the transition region becomes an Alfven wave resonant cavity. We have confirmed that there are at least three resonant frequencies, 1, 3, and 5 mHz, in our numerical model. Alfven wave resonance is one of the most effective mechanisms to explain the dynamics of the spicules and the sufficient energy flux to heat the corona.

• OSTI ID: 21394401
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 710, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/710/2/1857; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ALFVEN WAVES
FOURIER ANALYSIS
GRANULATION
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MHZ RANGE 01-100
OSCILLATIONS
PHOTOSPHERE
RESONANCE
SIMULATION
SOLAR CORONA
SOLAR PROMINENCES
SPECTRA
SUN
TELESCOPES
ATMOSPHERES
FABRICATION
FLUID MECHANICS
FREQUENCY RANGE
HYDRODYNAMICS
HYDROMAGNETIC WAVES
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
MECHANICS
MHZ RANGE
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR ATMOSPHERE
STARS
STELLAR ACTIVITY
STELLAR ATMOSPHERES
STELLAR CORONAE