HEATING OF THE MAGNETIZED SOLAR CHROMOSPHERE BY PARTIAL IONIZATION EFFECTS

Journal Article · Sat Mar 10 04:00:00 EST 2012 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/747/2/87· OSTI ID:22016264

Khomenko, E; Collados, M ^[1]

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1. Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, 38205, C/Via Lactea, s/n, La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain)

In this paper, we study the heating of the magnetized solar chromosphere induced by the large fraction of neutral atoms present in this layer. The presence of neutrals, together with the decrease with height of the collisional coupling, leads to deviations from the classical magnetohydrodynamic behavior of the chromospheric plasma. A relative net motion appears between the neutral and ionized components, usually referred to as ambipolar diffusion. The dissipation of currents in the chromosphere is enhanced by orders of magnitude due to the action of ambipolar diffusion, as compared with the standard ohmic diffusion. We propose that a significant amount of magnetic energy can be released to the chromosphere just by existing force-free 10-40 G magnetic fields there. As a consequence, we conclude that ambipolar diffusion is an important process that should be included in chromospheric heating models, as it has the potential to rapidly heat the chromosphere. We perform analytical estimations and numerical simulations to prove this idea.

• OSTI ID: 22016264
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 747; ISSN ASJOAB; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
AMBIPOLAR DIFFUSION
CHROMOSPHERE
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
IONIZATION
MAGNETIC FIELDS
SUN